Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Artificial Intelligence

Peter Kyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to complete algorithmic transparency reports for the ten pilot programs being developed by the Incubator for AI.

Alex Burghart: The Government has made transparency around automated decision-making a priority through the publication of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS). The ATRS was endorsed by the Data Standards Authority (DSA), and the first approved version was published in January 2023. Any standards that have been designated by the DSA have an expectation that they will be adopted where there is a use case. The i.AI team are committed to the development of safe, secure and transparent government AI. The pilot programmes are at various stages of development, and each will be subject to robust testing and evaluation in collaboration with other government expert teams including CDDO, DSIT and the AISI. This will include the completion of Algorithmic Transparency Standards for projects that move past Alpha stages, informed by user testing and pilot programmes.

Cabinet Office: Publishing

Pat McFadden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what reports and guidance his Department and has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.

Alex Burghart: The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Reports and guidance that the Department has published can be found on gov.uk. Examples include the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts), Strengthening Ethics and Integrity in Central Government (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strengthening-ethics-and-integrity-in-central-government) and policy papers such as the Disability Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-action-plan).

Blood: Contamination

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 14610 on Infected Blood Inquiry, whether members of the expert group will receive payment for their work on the group.

John Glen: I can confirm that members of the expert group will receive remuneration for their work. On 7 February 2024, the Government published details of the legal experts contract award on Contracts Finder.

Cabinet Office: Diaries

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his diary for 14 November 2023.

John Glen: I refer the Hon. Member to my response to UIN 16454 on 6th March 2024.

Former Ministers: Redundancy Pay

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many ministerial redundancy payments have been repaid since 2019; and by whom those repayments have been made.

John Glen: Departments are responsible for making salary and loss of office payments to their Ministers. This information would only be held by individual departments.

Blood: Contamination

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will (a) identify and (b) contact people in Luton South who were (i) infected and (ii) affected by the contaminated blood scandal as part of Government preparations for responding to Infected Blood Inquiry recommendations on compensation.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have received interim compensation payments because of (a) their and (b) their family member’s infection from contaminated blood or blood products in Luton South constituency.

John Glen: The Statistical Expert Group, established by the Infected Blood Inquiry, has provided valuable insight into the numbers of infections from blood and blood products in the UK between 1970 and 1991 and subsequent survival rates. Since October 2022, the Government has paid over £400 million in interim compensation payments to those infected or bereaved partners registered with the UK Infected Blood Support Schemes, totalling over 4,000 individuals. However, the requested information is not available by Parliamentary constituency. There is also considerable uncertainty over the number of people, especially those affected, who might be eligible under Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations. Therefore I am not able to provide a substantive response to the Honourable Member’s questions on her constituency.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the terms of reference of the expert group to provide technical advice on compensation for the Government's response to the Infected Blood Inquiry will include the recommendations of the reports entitled (a) Compensation and redress for the victims of contaminated blood recommendations for a framework, published on 7 June 2022, and (b) Second interim report of the infected blood inquiry, published by the Infected Blood Inquiry on 5 April 2023.

John Glen: The Government is actively considering all recommendations of the Second Interim Report which reviews the recommendations of Sir Robert Francis’ Compensations Framework Study. The expert group is providing technical assistance in understanding how the Inquiry’s recommendations could work in practice. This will enable the Government to make an informed decision on responding to recommendations in a manner which considers the needs of the community and the far reaching impacts this scandal has had on their lives, alongside the associated costs to the public sector. As the work of the expert group relates to the formulation and development of Government policy, their advice, evidence and methodologies as well as the terms of reference, minutes and agendas of their meetings has not been not be published at this time.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Planning Permission: Active Travel

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of national planning policy framework for active travel.

Lee Rowley: The National Planning Policy Framework already states that planning policies should “provide for attractive and well-designed walking and cycling networks with supporting facilities which are designed to promote active travel”.

Muslim Council of Britain

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15545 on Muslim Council of Britain, when a MCB leader most recently took a position that contradicts the UK's fundamental values.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 15545 on 29 February 2024.

Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recommendations the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group has made since 2019; and what progress he has made on implementing those recommendations.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many reports he has received from the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group since 2019.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which Minister in his Department is responsible for the Anti Muslim Hatred Working Group.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what updates his Department has provided about relevant developments in its area of work to the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group since 2019.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group has taken to engage with Muslim communities since 2019.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the document entitled Draft terms of reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, what key priorities the Government has identified in collaboration with the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group; what support other Departments have provided to ensure that recommendations are taken fully to implementation stage; and whether that group has identified any difficulty in delivery of the recommendations since 2019.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the document entitled Draft terms of reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, what trends in anti-Muslim sentiment and hatred that group has (a) reviewed and (b) identified since 2019; and what appropriate actions it has suggested for (i) the Government and (ii) communities as a result of that review.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the document entitled Draft terms of reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, what steps his Department has taken to meet its commitments as secretariat to that group.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the document entitled Draft terms of reference for the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, who the (a) independent members of that group and (b) representatives from each of the Departments listed in that document are.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Anti-Muslim Working Group exists as of 4 March; and when that group last met.

Lee Rowley: The Government is clear that all forms of racial and religious discrimination are unacceptable, and they have no place in our communities. We continue to take a broad approach to religious hatred which will develop on the work of the previous Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Groups.As my Hon Friend the Member for Kensington outlined in the House, we plan to appoint a new independent adviser on anti-Muslim hatred, and we will update the House shortly.

Renters (Reform) Bill

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the Leader of the House on the timing of Report stage of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Jacob Young: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Levelling Up Fund: Tamworth Borough Council

Sarah Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2024 to Question 11923 on Levelling Up Fund: Tamworth Borough Council, whether officials from his Department drafted any materials related to this visit.

Jacob Young: No departmental resources were deployed in facilitating the visit to Tamworth. No briefing materials were prepared by my department in preparation of the visit.As I said in response to Question UIN 13191 on 8 February 2024, this was a political visit arranged through political channels at no cost to the taxpayer.

Repossession Orders: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of repossessions by county court bailiffs there were in landlord cases in Stockport local authority area in 2023.

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many accelerated possession claims in which the landlord had served a section 21 notice were brought to the courts in the Stockport local authority area in 2023.

Jacob Young: The Government publishes quarterly statistics on repossessions by county court bailiffs in landlord cases, and the volume of accelerated possession claims in which the landlord had served a section 21 eviction.The statistics can be accessed here.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: WhatsApp

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.

Simon Hoare: There is published guidance available here: Using non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business.

Disinformation: Elections

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the tools available to verify election-related content.

Simon Hoare: We have a tradition of robust political debate and freedom of speech in our democracy. Policy or political arguments - both online and offline - which can be rebutted by rival campaigners or the press as part of the normal course of political debate should not be regulated. It is a matter for voters to decide whether they consider such arguments/claims to be accurate.The new digital imprints regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, will increase the transparency of digital political advertising, by requiring those promoting eligible digital campaigning material targeted at the UK electorate to include an imprint with their name and address.We are working to ensure we are ready to respond to the full range of threats to our democratic processes, including through the Defending Democracy Taskforce, and the Government regularly meets with social media companies to understand the policies and processes they have in place.

Leasehold: Lincolnshire

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of leaseholders in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Lee Rowley: The department publishes an annual estimate of leasehold dwellings in England.The most recent data (2021-22) shows there were an estimated 4.98 million leasehold dwellings in England. In the East Midlands, there were an estimated 192,000 leasehold dwellings.Due to methodological limitations, the statistics cannot show robust estimates at a sub-regional level. The data are published on gov.uk here: Leasehold dwellings.

Temporary Accommodation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department's data collection on the number of households in emergency temporary accommodation.

Felicity Buchan: The department’s temporary accommodation statistics are classified as accredited official statistics by the Office for National Statistics.

Estate Agents and Property Management Companies

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department distinguishes between (a) relocation agents, (b) estate agents and (c) property agents within the housing sector, in the context of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.

Lee Rowley: The existing measures in this Bill will apply principally to managing agents acting on behalf of their landlord or estate manager, but measures relating to the ban on new leasehold houses will also apply to those involved in marketing a property, including estate agents.

Homelessness: Veterans

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans reported as homeless in (a) January and (b) February 2024.

Felicity Buchan: I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 15404 on 1 March 2024.

Community Development

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing local authorities with guidance as to how to place people with complex challenges in communities.

Felicity Buchan: The Government already provides local authorities with guidance relating to many such issues.

Private Rented Housing: Temporary Accommodation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in levels of profits made by private landlords by letting emergency temporary accommodation.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of regulation for emergency temporary accommodation.

Felicity Buchan: Local authorities procure temporary accommodation from a range of sources, including council-owned stock, from housing associations, and from private landlords, and must ensure it is suitable.Government has an ambition to increase quality of all accommodation, including temporary accommodation.

Department for Transport

Roads: Accidents

Vicky Ford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish (a) available data from the Government-sponsored e-scooter trials on the (i) number and (ii) number per million kilometers travelled of people killed or seriously injured in e-scooter incidents and (b) equivalent figures for (A) bicycles, (B) legally registered powered two wheel motorbikes, (C) passenger cars and (D) commercial vehicles; and whether he holds such data for incidents involving e-scooters not included in the trials.

Anthony Browne: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Airspace: Horn of Africa

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) his policies and (b) the safety of overflying British aircraft of recent Traffic Collision Avoidance System events over air space controlled by Somalia and Somaliland.

Anthony Browne: The safety and security of British airlines and the travelling public are a top priority for my Department. Management of airspace is a sovereign responsibility and it is for airlines to take decisions on routings. DfT provide additional advice to UK airlines operating outside of the UK where we deem it necessary In relation to Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) events within Somali airspace, a high number of TCAS events may indicate an inadequate Air Traffic Control provision within the area but it also means that the protections are working and aircraft are being kept separated. Should an aircraft’s TCAS be unserviceable, then protection is still provided by aircraft with a serviceable TCAS. It is also of note that this airspace is not routinely or regularly used by UK operators.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons his Department is yet to publish its response to the consultation entitled Pavement parking: options for change.

Guy Opperman: The Department received over 15,000 responses covering tens of thousands of open comments. Each one has been read and considered, and we are continuing to work through the policy options and the legislative choices for delivering them. We want to take the right steps for communities and ensure that local authorities have appropriate and effective tools at their disposal. As soon as the Department has determined this approach, we will publish our formal response.

Bus Services: Lincolnshire

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) maintain and (b) improve rural bus services in (i) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (ii) Lincolnshire.

Guy Opperman: In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis. Where commercial service provision is insufficient to meet the needs of local communities, local authorities can subsidise bus services where this represents value for money. This ensures that service provision is aligned with local needs. The Government recognises the importance of local bus services to ensuring communities can stay connected, including in rural areas, and has announced over £4.5 billion to support and improve bus services since 2020. The over £4.5 billion includes:o £2bn pandemic funding between March 2020 and June 2023, followed by £300m in further service support until April 2025 (of which £160m is BSIP+ (not included in the £2bn BSIP funding below) and £140m is BSOG+ funding);o £2bn Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding, including £1bn for LTAs in the North and the Midlands recently reallocated from HS2 (of which we have already announced allocations for the first £150m in 2024/25 and allocations for 25/26 onwards will be published in due course);o Nearly £600m of funding for the £2 fare cap until the end of 2024. From the Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated over £8.5 million so far. The Department’s guidance to local authorities on developing their BSIPs explains that these must cover their full area and all local bus services within it. This funding should, therefore, benefit services in South Holland and the Deepings. The Government also makes over £200 million available to bus operators every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to help them maintain their network. A further £42 million in BSOG funding is provided directly to local authorities to help subsidise socially necessary bus services that might otherwise be commercially unviable, helping to support rural bus routes. Lincolnshire County Council receives £535,302 of this funding every year. The Government is also providing £20 million through the Rural Mobility Fund in England to trial 16 innovative demand responsive minibus services to better understand the challenges associated with introducing bookable bus services in rural and suburban settings.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Standards

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2024 to Question 15192 on Govia Thameslink Railway: Standards, whether his Department made an estimate of the potential increased cost to the public purse of performance fees due under the Train Operating Company’s management contract when deciding to lower performance standards for Thameslink.

Huw Merriman: Targets are updated annually and are calibrated to incentivise operators to deliver the best outcomes for customers within the budget available. They should be challenging but achievable. This process was followed when setting Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) Service Quality Regime (SQR) targets for 2023/24. The SQR fee is capped at a maximum level, however, the actual fee is dependent on performance, which is not known in advance.

Blue Badge Scheme: Expenditure

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on the Blue Badge scheme at the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance in the financial year 2022-23.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The Department sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme, and provides guidance for local authorities who are solely responsible for administering the scheme.

Department for Transport: WhatsApp

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.

Anthony Browne: The Department for Transport follows the central government guidance on ‘Using non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business’. The guidance is available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-corporate-communication-channels-for-government-business.

Avanti West Coast: Catering

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2024 to Question 14383 on Avanti West Coast: Catering, whether his permission was required in order for Avanti West Coast to progress its proposed end to cash payments for its onboard catering services.

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2024 to Question 14383 on Avanti West Coast: Catering, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Avanti West Coast's planned end to cash payments for onboard catering to revenue.

Huw Merriman: Catering services are a commercial matter for each train operating company. Train operators are responsible for considering the equality impacts of operational changes such as to catering payment methods, and are expected by the Department to take local needs into account.

Heaton Chapel Station: Access

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to introduce step-free access at HeatonChapelStation.

Huw Merriman: The platforms at Heaton Chapel are accessible by ramp. There is not currently a lift, but Rail North Partnership (RNP) works closely with Northern Trains, Network Rail, Transport for the North and its members, including Transport for Greater Manchester, to identify opportunities to improve access to stations for every passenger in the North as part of the operator’s Annual Business Planning process.

Bus Services: Leicestershire

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect rural bus services in Leicestershire; and what discussions he has had with Arriva East Midlands about the necessity of such bus services.

Guy Opperman: In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis. Where commercial service provision is insufficient to meet the needs of local communities, local authorities can subsidise bus services where this represents value for money. This ensures that service provision is aligned with local needs. The Department for Transport regularly engages with bus operators and local authorities throughout England on the provision of local bus services, including those in rural areas. The Government recognises the importance of local bus services to ensuring communities can stay connected, including in rural areas, and has announced over £4.5 billion to support and improve bus services since 2020.The over £4.5 billion includes:o £2bn pandemic funding between March 2020 and June 2023, followed by £300m in further service support until April 2025 (of which £160m is BSIP+ (not included in the £2bn BSIP funding below) and £140m is BSOG+ funding);o £2bn Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding, including £1bn for LTAs in the North and the Midlands recently reallocated from HS2 (of which we have already announced allocations for the first £150m in 2024/25 and allocations for 25/26 onwards will be published in due course);o Nearly £600m of funding for the £2 fare cap until the end of 2024. From the Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, Leicestershire County Council has been allocated over £7.5 million so far. The Government also makes over £200 million available to bus operators every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to help them maintain their network. A further £42 million in BSOG funding is provided directly to local authorities to help subsidise socially necessary bus services that might otherwise be commercially unviable, helping to support rural bus routes. Leicestershire County Council receives £535,302 of this funding every year. The Government is also providing £20 million through the Rural Mobility Fund in England to trial 16 innovative demand responsive minibus services to better understand the challenges associated with introducing bookable bus services in rural and suburban settings. £1.3 million of this funding has been provided to Leicestershire County Council to trial their ‘FoxConnect’ service, covering rural areas between Hinckley and Leicester.

Cars: Carbon Emissions

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what was the CO2 intensity for new internal combustion car engines in each of the last three years.

Anthony Browne: The carbon intensity of newly registered passenger vehicles is measured in grams of CO2 emitted per kilometre driven. The last three years of data held on the fleet wide average CO2 emissions of newly registered petrol and diesel cars in the UK shows an increase over time. Excluding zero emission vehicle registrations, the provisional average for new petrol cars only in 2020 was 140.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre, 143.3 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2021 and 143.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2022. The provisional average for new diesel cars only in 2020 was 153.8 grams of CO2 per kilometre, 161.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2021 and 164.0 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2022. When considering the overall fleet of new cars, including zero emission, the average CO2 intensity has decreased over the last three years. The provisional average for 2020 was 126.6 grams of CO2 per kilometre, 118.5 grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2021 and 110.8g grams of CO2 per kilometre in 2022. This data set is available at: Vehicle licensing statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Bus Services: West Yorkshire

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) maintain and (b) enhance rural bus services in (i) Dewsbury constituency and (ii) West Yorkshire.

Guy Opperman: In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis. Where commercial service provision is insufficient to meet the needs of local communities, local authorities can subsidise bus services where this represents value for money. This ensures that service provision is aligned with local needs. The Government recognises the importance of local bus services to ensuring communities can stay connected, including in rural areas, and has announced over £4.5 billion to support and improve bus services since 2020. The over £4.5 billion includes:o £2bn pandemic funding between March 2020 and June 2023, followed by £300m in further service support until April 2025 (of which £160m is BSIP+ (not included in the £2bn BSIP funding below) and £140m is BSOG+ funding);o £2bn Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding, including £1bn for LTAs in the North and the Midlands recently reallocated from HS2 (of which we have already announced allocations for the first £150m in 2024/25 and allocations for 25/26 onwards will be published in due course);o Nearly £600m of funding for the £2 fare cap until the end of 2024. From the Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has been allocated over £90 million so far. The Department’s guidance to local authorities on developing their BSIPs explains that these must cover their full area and all local bus services within it. This funding should, therefore, benefit services in Dewsbury. The Government also makes over £200 million available to bus operators every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to help them maintain their network. A further £42 million in BSOG funding is provided directly to local authorities to help subsidise socially necessary bus services that might otherwise be commercially unviable, helping to support rural bus routes. West Yorkshire Combined Authority receives over £2 million of this funding every year. The Government is also providing £20 million through the Rural Mobility Fund in England to trial 16 innovative demand responsive minibus services to better understand the challenges associated with introducing bookable bus services in rural and suburban settings.

Department of Health and Social Care

Dentistry: Training

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total number of dental undergraduate training places available to (a) UK and (b) international students was in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2023-24.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Palliative Care: Children

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with integrated care boards on estimates they have made of how many children are accessing palliative care in their areas.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vaccination: Procurement

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps each demonstrator system is taking to help deliver the NHS Vaccination Strategy.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vaccination: Procurement

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 5.1.2 of the NHS Vaccination Strategy, last updated on 4 January, 2024, which Integrated Care Systems have been identified as demonstrator systems to test (a) new models of vaccine delivery and (b) innovative commissioning models.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Advertising

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospices: Finance

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of standardising funding for hospices.

Helen Whately: While the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at the end of life, and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the integrated care board footprint.

Palliative Care: Integrated Care Boards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to help support integrated care boards to develop palliative care strategies for (a) hospices, (b) care homes, (c) hospitals and (d) within the community in their areas.

Helen Whately: While the National Health Service has always been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population, in 2022 palliative care services were added to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care in all settings. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.From April 2024, NHS England will include palliative and end of life care in the list of topics for its regular performance discussions between national and regional leads. Additionally, NHS England has commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of those in their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.

Palliative Care: Children and Young People

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing a long-term strategy for supporting the palliative care needs of children and young people.

Helen Whately: While the National Health Service has always been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of the population, palliative care services were added to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this statutory duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance on palliative and end of life care, and a service specification for children and young people.

Integrated Care Boards and NHS England: Annual Reports

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's guidance entitled Annual assessment of integrated care boards 2022-23: supporting guidance, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring (a) ICBs and (b) NHS England to consult (i) patient support groups and (ii) other stakeholders before publishing their annual report.

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring NHS England to provide a point of contact to receive public feedback about integrated care boards as part of the annual performance assessment process.

Helen Whately: NHS England conducted its first annual performance assessment of the integrated care boards (ICBs) for the 2022/23 financial year, from July 2022 to March 2023, and published supporting guidance for the ICBs. The guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/annual-assessment-of-integrated-care-board-2022-23-supporting-guidance/As set out in the National Health Service Act 2006 and amended by the Health and Care Act 2022, while conducting the assessments, NHS England must consult with Health and Wellbeing Boards as to how effectively the ICB has contributed to the ambitions set out in the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The guidance also indicates NHS England and ICBs should gather feedback from a range of relevant stakeholders, which may include:- NHS trusts and foundation trusts;- primary care providers;- clinical networks and alliances;- local Healthwatch; and- voluntary and community sector organisations.

Hospices: Children

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how she plans to distribute the £25 million committed to children’s hospices in 2024-25.

Helen Whately: NHS England currently supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Last year, NHS England confirmed that it will be renewing the funding for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This prevalence-based approach ensures funding matches local need.The distribution of the 2024/25 funding to children’s hospices will be via integrated care boards (ICBs), in line with the wider move to a devolved National Health Service, in which ICBs are best placed to meet the health and care needs of their local population.

Palliative Care: Children

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with NHS England on the adequacy of (a) regional planning and (b) accountability for children’s palliative care.

Helen Whately: The Department is in ongoing discussions with NHS England about the oversight and accountability of National Health Service palliative and end of life care commissioning.From April 2024, NHS England will include palliative and end of life care in the list of topics for its regular performance discussions between national and regional leads.NHS England has commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together relevant, all-age local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of those in their local population, including children, enabling integrated care boards to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.

Department of Health and Social Care: Vacancies

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of digital roles within her Department were vacant as of 26 February 2024.

Andrew Stephenson: As of 26 February 2024, we estimate that we currently have a vacancy rate of 22.76% in digital roles within the Department.

NHS: Pay

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with the NHS Pay Review Body on its potential recommendations on the 2024-25 pay round.

Andrew Stephenson: My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has had no discussions with the NHS Pay Review Body on its potential recommendations for the 2024/25 pay round.My officials have regular engagement with the Pay Review Bodies (PRB) secretariat, however as independent bodies the PRBs will not discuss their potential recommendations with stakeholders, these are received alongside their report.

Blood Cancer: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long her Department has been aware of issues associated with health technology appraisal of combination medicines for blood cancers; and whether her Department is giving additional resources to (a) NICE and (b) NHS England to tackle those issues.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to support (a) NICE and (b) NHS England to apply flexibility to appraisal of combination medicines; and whether flexibility will be applied in NICE appraisals for multiple myeloma.

Andrew Stephenson: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a statement in November 2023 that clarifies the circumstances under which it will not prioritise enforcement action against drug firms when they implement a specific negotiation framework, to make more combination therapies available on the National Health Service. The statement is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/combination-therapies-prioritisation-statementIn the 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth, NHS England committed to launching a consultation on updating the NHS England Commercial Framework for New Medicines, by July of this year. This consultation will reflect the CMA’s statement, and will be used to consider options for transacting a solution for some combination therapies, under specific circumstances.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also gave specific consideration to the evaluation of combination therapies in the comprehensive review of its methods and processes for health technology evaluation, that concluded in January 2022. The NICE’s published health technology evaluation manual describes the considerations that will be given to the evaluation of combination therapies where relevant.

Midwives: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the cost of training a student midwife is paid by (a) the student, (b) the public purse and (c) other sources; and what the cost to the public purse was for training student midwives in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: Student loan outlay and Office for Students Strategic Priorities Grant data is not collected by the Department of Health and Social Care, and is the responsibility of the Department for Education and the Office for Students. NHS England supports the provision of clinical placements for student midwives, through the Education and Training Tariff, which is paid to placement providers. The following table shows the tariff provided for midwifery students in each of the last five years:  2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Tariff£11,336,867£13,856,454£17,428,079£21,234,754£23,104,117 From 2017 all eligible midwifery students have received non-repayable supplementary funding support through the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF), which since 2020 has included a non-repayable training grant of £5,000 per academic year, with further financial support available to students for childcare, dual accommodation costs, and travel. Prior to 2017, healthcare education funding for midwifery students was centrally funded by the Government. This included payment of tuition fees and an NHS Bursary. The following table shows all support paid to students undertaking education and training which would enable them to register as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, in each of the last five years: 2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23LSF and legacy bursary£15,800,691£9,436,016£31,225,575£49,035,130£53,841,543

Midwives: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people enrolled onto midwifery (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate courses in each year of study in each of the last five academic years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many student midwives graduated from pre-registration midwifery courses in each of the last five years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of student midwives left their university courses in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: Data published by the Office for Students in the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES), collates figures submitted by individual higher education providers to give an indication of the number of students studying in each academic year. HESES data includes figures on undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery courses in England. The latest published data is for those starting courses in 2022. The table below gives the number of undergraduate and postgraduate starters on midwifery courses in England, each year from 2018 to 2022: 20182019202020212022Undergraduate Starters2,5502,9303,4603,5653,305Postgraduate Starters7055100135190Source: The Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES) 2018 to 2022. The table below presents the latest available data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for the number of qualifiers from undergraduate midwifery courses in England, for the years 2019/20 to 2021/22:  2019/202020/212021/22Undergraduate Midwifery Qualifiers2,0551,9452,445Source: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) qualifier data 2022Note: A qualifier is defined by the HESA as a student who gained a qualification during the academic year in question. The Department does not hold information on the proportion of student midwives who left university courses, in each of the last five years.

Antidepressants

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK are prescribed anti-depressants.

Andrew Stephenson: The most recent data was published on 6 July 2023 and can be found here NHS releases mental health medicines statistics for 2022/2023 in England (nhsbsa.nhs.uk) Prescriptions do not state the purpose for which they are written, so there may be instances where these medicines are used for other conditions.

Gastrointestinal Cancer: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people with lower gastrointestinal cancers are diagnosed in line with the faster diagnosis standard.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department is taking steps to achieve the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), which aims to ensure people with cancer or suspected cancer, including lower gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, are diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of referral. The Department is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 related backlogs in elective care, which includes plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment.To achieve the FDS target specifically, NHS England have implemented a timed pathway for lower GI cancer, by requiring faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) for patients in primary and secondary care settings on a suspected lower GI cancer pathway. FIT testing prevents patients from having unnecessary colonoscopies, freeing up capacity for these procedures, and ensuring the most urgent symptomatic patients are seen more quickly. Across 2022/2023, the proportion of lower GI referrals with a related FIT test rose from 24% to 69%.NHS England is also implementing non symptom specific pathways (NSS) for patients who present with non-specific symptoms or combinations of non-specific symptoms that can indicate several different cancers, including symptoms that may indicate lower GI cancers.In addition, at the 2021 Spending Review the Government awarded £2.3 billion to transform diagnostic services from 2022 to 2025, most of which will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, prioritising CDCs for cancer services. General practice teams have also been given direct access to tests like computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasounds helping to cut waiting times and speed up the diagnosis of, or ruling out of, cancer. This funding is also being used to expand endoscopy capacity within acute settings, and in CDCs.

Gastrointestinal Cancer: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve the rate of early diagnosis of (a) bowel and (b) bowel-related cancers.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department is taking steps to improve the rate of early diagnosis for all cancers, including bowel and bowel-related cancers, and is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan, for tackling the COVID-19 related backlogs in elective care. This includes plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment.NHS England is working to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out. To achieve this target NHS England has: streamlined bowel cancer pathways by implementing faecal immunochemical testing triage for patients in primary and secondary care settings on a suspected cancer pathway; implemented non-symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations of non-specific symptoms, that can indicate several different cancers; and has opened community diagnostic centres across England, expanding diagnostic capacity and by prioritising this capacity for cancer services.In 2023 the NHS England’s Help Us Help You campaign urged people to take up the offer of bowel screening when invited, and the screening offer for the bowel screening programme is being gradually extended from age 60 down to 50 years old by 2025, ensuring more people are screened and potentially diagnosed with bowel cancer at the earliest stage.  The National Health Service is also now offering routine preventative bowel cancer screening to thousands of people in England with a genetic condition, Lynch syndrome, that increases their chance of developing bowel cancer and other certain other cancers. This gives the NHS a better chance of finding cancers at a time when they can be more easily and effectively treated.

Gastrointestinal Cancer: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of patients with lower gastrointestinal cancers who receive their first treatment within 62 days of being urgently referred by their GP.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent general practice referral and the commencement of treatment for cancer for patients. The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 related backlogs in elective care, and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment.  Interventions include a pathway re-design to maximise capacity, including comprehensive faecal immunochemical test implementation to detect lower gastrointestinal cancers faster.In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years, to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity.Additionally, the Government published the Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Our Strategic Framework on 14 August 2023, which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today, and of the decades ahead, including for cancer.

Bowel Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equality in bowel cancer outcomes.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Health Service is taking several steps to improve bowel cancer outcomes for patients across England. The NHS is working towards its Long Term Plan’s ambition of diagnosing 75% of all stageable cancers at stage one and two, by 2028. Achieving this will mean that an additional 55,000 people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis.  With progress made on reducing waiting times, cancer is being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often, with survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer. In 2023, NHS England’s Help Us Help You campaign urged people to take up the offer of bowel screening when invited, while gradually extending the screening offer from those aged 60 down to 50 years old, ensuring more people are diagnosed with bowel cancer at the earliest stage. The NHS is also now offering routine preventative bowel cancer screening to thousands of people in England with a genetic condition, Lynch syndrome, that increases their chance of developing bowel cancer and certain other cancers. This gives the NHS a better chance of finding cancers at a time when they can be more easily and effectively treated. Tackling disparities is important in improving all types of cancer outcomes. The Government is committed to its levelling up mission, to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030 and increase healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035. Our approach will continue to focus on supporting people to live healthier lives, helping the NHS and social care provide the best treatment and care for patients, and tackling health disparities through national and system interventions such as the NHS’s Core20PLUS5 programme. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities was set up to address health inequalities with a range of interventions, including accelerating prevention programmes, reducing digital exclusion, supporting general practice in deprived communities, and improving health literacy.

NHS: Pay

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with social enterprises that employ front line staff on funding to cover lump sum payments.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department has not had recent discussions with social enterprises on funding to cover lump sum payments.

Health Services: Artificial Intelligence

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timescale is for (a) completing and (b) assessing the projects undertaken under the Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award.

Andrew Stephenson: The AI in Health and Care Award was created to help accelerate the testing of artificial intelligence technologies most likely to meet the aims set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, and to develop an evidence base to support the commissioning of technologies that are clinically and cost effective. A total of £123 million has been allocated to 86 artificial intelligence technologies and of these, 48 awards have been completed, 13 are scheduled to conclude by March 2024, 17 by March 2025, five by March 2026, and three by September 2026. All awarded technologies, aside from phase one and phase two projects, are expected to submit an evaluation one month after their completion. Evaluations are not publicly released, but will inform policy and commissioning decisions. Further information is available at the following link: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/artificial-intelligence-in-health-and-care-award-guidance-for-competition-2-all-phases-stage-1/26004#assessment-criteria

Drugs: Licensing

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to return to 12 months average timescales for the licensing of generic and biosimilar medicines.

Andrew Stephenson: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has taken urgent action to deliver improvements to decision timescales in established medicines. The timely processing of marketing authorisation applications to ensure continued access to medicines for the United Kingdom public is of the highest importance. The MHRA are taking significant steps to assess applications for medicines approvals within statutory timeframes.As an effective regulator, the MHRA are committed to the highest of standards of performance and delivering the right outcomes for patients and public health. The MHRA will always prioritise applications according to public health need.   The MHRA are working to reduce timelines by bringing in additional resources and to develop processes that will result in significantly improved response times while protecting patient safety. The MHRA have published information on a new process that came into effect from 1 March that will help to ensure a smoother and more rapid approvals process for applicants.The measures MHRA are taking to improve regulatory assessment times are beginning to take effect and we are confident they will result in significant reductions to average timescales. The MHRA are publishing monthly updates providing applicants with transparent information on expected timescales which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mhra-performance-data-for-assessment-of-clinical-trials-and-established-medicines/mhra-performance-data-for-assessment-of-clinical-trials-and-established-medicines

Department of Health and Social Care: Software

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding their Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on software updates to legacy computer systems in each of the last three financial years.

Andrew Stephenson: The following table shows the estimated amount budgeted and spent by the Department in each of the past three financial years, to replace legacy systems:Financial yearBudgetActual2021/22£350,000£500,0002022/23£0£02023/24£0£0

Bournemouth

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) she and (b) other Ministers plan to visit Bournemouth in the next six months.

Andrew Stephenson: Ministers regularly consider visits to health and care settings across the country. Any plans to visit specific locations will be notified to hon. Members in advance.

Cancer: Screening

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her timetable is for the introduction of the recommendations of the final evaluation report for the secondary care routine reflux cohort of the Cytosponge test.

Andrew Stephenson: On 26 February 2024, NHS England published the results of the cytosponge test pilot for secondary care routine reflux and Barrett’s surveillance cohort, which began in January 2021, and launched at 30 hospitals across England. The pilot tested over 8,500 patients with the capsule sponge test. Evaluation of a cohort of patients showed almost eight out of 10 patients, who completed a test, were discharged without the need for further testing, freeing up endoscopy capacity for higher risk patients and those referred for urgent tests for oesophageal cancer. Patients with positive results from the capsule sponge test who were referred on for an endoscopy had the highest prevalence of Barrett’s oesophagus, at 27.2%, compared to zero patients with negative results who completed an endoscopy.A timetable for the introduction of the recommendations of the final evaluation report for the secondary care routine reflux cohort of the cytosponge test, is yet to be finalised and published.

Alzheimer's Disease: Screening

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to expand testing for Alzheimer's to enable people to benefit at an early stage from new treatments (a) lecanemab and (b) other new treatments.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is committed to improving diagnosis rates, and recovering to the national ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to have a formal diagnosis. This commitment is included in the operational planning guidance for 2023/24, giving clear direction for integrated care boards to prioritise dementia. The national ambition includes provision for a sub-type diagnosis.NHS England has established a dedicated national programme team which co-ordinates the preparations for the potential roll out of new treatments, for use in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease. These plans assume that, if these new treatments are approved by the regulators, significant additional diagnostic capacity including amyloid positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) lumbar puncture and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), will be needed both to identify patients who are most able to benefit, and to provide important safety monitoring for potential adverse effects during treatment.The team at NHS England is taking concrete steps to ramp up preparations across the country and assess the additional scanning, treating, and monitoring capacity that will be needed. This encompasses securing additional diagnostic capacity including MRI, lumbar puncture, and PET-CT.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what preparations his Department has made for increasing aid to Gaza after a potential ceasefire.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. Our focus must be on practical solutions that save lives.We need Israel to ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of aid convoys, humanitarian operations and IDP returns, and facilitate access, as well as ensure the UN has the people, vehicles, equipment and fuel to distribute aid safely across Gaza. This includes issuing visas.We have also called on Israel to extend the opening hours and capacity of the Nitzana screening facility and Kerem Shalom checkpoint so more trucks, aid and fuel can enter Gaza, and to open the Kerem Shalom crossing 7 days a week.We also want to see Israel remove restrictions to ensure greater consistency on the goods allowed in, and unencumbered access to aid coming from Jordan. In addition, we want Israel to open Ashdod Port as a route for aid to reach Gaza, open the Erez Crossing to allow direct access to the north of Gaza, and restore water, fuel and electricity connections.The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is based in the region and is working intensively to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) aid workers and (b) medical volunteers have access to Gaza as soon as possible.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We need Israel to ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of aid convoys and humanitarian operations and facilitate access, as well as ensure the UN has the people, vehicles, equipment and fuel to distribute aid safely across Gaza. This includes issuing visas.The Prime Minister noted the importance of protecting civilian infrastructure like hospitals in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu during their call 15 February.We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WHO) and the Egyptian Red Crescent.

UNRWA: Finance

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the EU Commission's decision to (a) restore funding for UNRWA and (b) allocate additional emergency support for Palestinians.

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the EU Commission's statement entitled Commission will proceed to paying €50 million to UNRWA and increase emergency support to Palestinians by €68 million in 2024, published on 1 March 2024, what his Department's timescale is to review the decision to suspend funding to UNRWA.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are appalled by allegations that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned.As we have set out, we are pressing the UN Office of Internal Oversight and Catherine Colonna, who is leading the independent Review Group appointed by the UN Secretary-General, to produce a rapid interim report. We want UNRWA to give detailed undertakings about changes in personnel, policy and precedents to ensure this can never happen again. We are working with allies to try to bring this situation to a rapid conclusion not least because UNRWA have a vital role to play in providing aid and services in Gaza.Our decision to pause future funding to UNRWA has no impact on the UK's contribution to the current humanitarian response. We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in and open more crossings. We are providing £60 million in humanitarian assistance to support partners including the British Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Egyptian Red Crescent Society to respond to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.

India: Religious Freedom

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the protection of freedom of religion or belief in that country.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK Government is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect and tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities. We have a broad and deep partnership with the Government of India and we discuss all elements of our relationship, including human rights and FoRB. FoRB was among issues discussed by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, with the Government of India during his visit to India in February 2024.

Egypt: Gaza

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of reports of Palestinians being required to pay large sums of money to facilitate their exit from Gaza in to Egypt.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Egypt is a key regional partner in supporting the Government's response to the crisis. We welcome efforts by Egypt in getting aid into Gaza and British Nationals out. We are aware of these reports and do not recommend individuals seek or obtain permissions to cross the border by these means.As the British Government has said, the immediate priority must be a humanitarian pause in the fighting, which is the best route to secure the safe release of hostages and significantly step up the aid reaching Gaza, and for that pause to lead to a sustainable ceasefire without a return to further fighting. This remains the focus of all our diplomatic effort.

Israeli Settlements: Overseas Trade

Alan Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2024 to Question 15936 on Israeli Settlements, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning trade of goods from settlements on the West Bank.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We advise British businesses to bear in mind the UK Government's view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering their investments and activities in the region. Our position is that only Israeli goods originating from the State of Israel will be covered by the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Palestinian goods originating from the West Bank and Gaza will continue to benefit from the terms of the UK-Palestinian Authority FTA. Goods originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank will be covered by neither FTA.

Gaza: Water

Ian Byrne: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help make the water pipeline from Israel into northern Gaza operational.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has raised the issue of access to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the Israeli authorities. The Foreign Secretary has been clear that Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses, opening more routes into Gaza and restoring and sustaining water, fuel and electricity. The Prime Minister pressed the urgency of getting significantly more aid into Gaza to alleviate the desperate situation in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 15 February.

West Bank: Palestinians

Ian Byrne: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure protection of Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We urge Israel to halt settlement expansion immediately. We have already moved to ban those responsible for violence in the West Bank from the UK. We have taken further steps to hold those to account who undermine the steps to peace in the West Bank. Earlier this month the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions designations against four extremist Israeli settlers who have violently attacked Palestinians in the West Bank.We must also work with our allies to provide serious, practical and enduring support needed to bolster the Palestinian Authority.We already provide technical and practical support and are ready to do more. The Palestinian Authority also must take much needed steps on reform, including setting out a pathway to democratic progress.

L3Harris: Export Controls

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to his oral contribution of 27 February 2024 on Israel and Gaza, Official Report, column 163, if he will provide a response to the queries raised by the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion in relation to licences for L3Harris.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We have a robust arms export licensing regime, and all exports are regularly assessed against clear criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions.We regularly review Israel's capability and commitment to International Humanitarian Law. We act in accordance with that.

Gaza: Internally Displaced People

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2024 to Question 15325 on Gaza: Internally Displaced People, whether he plans to seek guarantees from his Israeli counterparts on the right to return of Palestinians displaced from their homes in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We have been clear that we need Israel to ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of aid convoys, humanitarian operations and indeed IDP returns.We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life. The Government continues to press these points, most recently when the Prime Minster spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 15 February.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advertising

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.

David Rutley: (a) The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office cannot provide the budget information for Advertising as we do not allocate budget to this level of granularity.(b) The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spent £1,701 in 2020/21, £2,176 in 2021/22 and £11,892 in 2022/23 on Advertising costs.

Chad: Foreign Relations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had with discussions with (a) authorities in Chad and (b) international counterparts on events at the party headquarters of the Chadian Socialist Party Without Borders on 28 February 2024.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK was appalled by the events which took place at the headquarters of the Chadian Socialist Party Without Borders in N'Djamena on 28 February. Our thoughts are with those injured and the friends and families of those killed. We are in touch with International Partners and the Chadian Authorities to urge an independent investigation into what happened. We want to see a Chad that is stable, more democratic and on a path towards long-term development. A pluralist, transparent and peaceful transition back to constitutional rule is vital for building a better future for Chad's people.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Beth Winter: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of tonnes of (a) aid and (b) UK-funded aid entering Gaza each (i) day and (ii) month in the 12 months.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has delivered 161 tonnes of life saving aid and equipment to Egypt for the Gaza response. This comprised 74 tonnes on board four RAF flights in October and November and 87 tonnes - inclusive of five tonnes of Cypriot aid - on board RFA Lyme Bay in January. In late January the UK and Qatar delivered a joint consignment of 17 tonnes of family sized tents, and in February the UK and Jordan delivered 4 tonnes of aid by air to Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.Additionally, the UK is funding a number of trusted partners through their large-scale appeals to procure and deliver aid to Gaza. This includes supporting the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver a new humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza. 750 tonnes of life-saving food aid arrived in the first delivery in December and a second delivery of 315 tonnes was made in January. It must be recognised that the support to large scale appeals prevents us from directly attributing UK funding to specific items, and it remains challenging to track aid deliveries by weight by international partners and aid organisations. Updates on the number of aid trucks entering Gaza are published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) as part of their daily updates on "Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel - reported impact", available on their website https://www.ochaopt.org/crisis

Sudan: Humanitarian Situation

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans (a) to attend the humanitarian conference on Sudan in Paris on 15 April 2024 and (b) for a representative from his Department to attend.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are still considering HMG representation at this important event.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Rwanda

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the potential relationship between the government of Rwanda and the M23 militia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK government is alarmed by the further escalation of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and we continue to raise our concerns with the governments of DRC and Rwanda at every appropriate moment. I [Minister Mitchell] met with President Kagame and Foreign Minister Biruta during my visit to Rwanda in late August, where I encouraged de-escalation and emphasised the need for a peaceful political solution. I anticipate engaging with the Government of Rwanda on this issue in my upcoming visit this April. The UK Special Envoy has recently returned from a UN-led trip to the region, where she encouraged de-escalation and a return to regional peace processes. We continue to work with members of the international community to bring an end to the violence, human rights abuses and the violations of international humanitarian law documented by armed groups including M23.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Apprentices

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much his Department (a) paid in apprenticeship levy fees and (b) spent from its apprenticeship levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023.

David Rutley: The department has contributed £3,557,814.53 in Levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023. This includes the 10 per cent government top up.During the same period, the department's spend from its apprenticeship Levy funds was £854,341.64.These are the combined levy figures for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and our Trading Fund, FCDO Services.

Department for Business and Trade

Arms Trade: Israel

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February to Question 13982 on Arms Trade: Israel, whether she has (a) amended, (b) suspended, (c) refused and (d) revoked any licences to export (i) arms and (ii) arms components to Israel since 12 February 2024.

Greg Hands: HM Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data Information about licences to Israel from 12th February 2024 has not yet been published as official statistics. Information regarding export licence decisions made between 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2024 will be published later this year. In the event a decision was taken to amend, suspend or revoke any licences, we would contact the affected exporters directly and, where relevant, issue a Notice to Exporters which would be published on GOV.UK.

Trade Agreements

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to include protections for (a) public health and safety, (b) environment, (c) public morals and (d) cultural diversity in future trade deals.

Greg Hands: The criteria listed are protected in UK FTAs by provisions in the General Exceptions chapter, most notably via the incorporation of GATT XX and GATS XIV and environmental clarifications related to them. These exceptions protect domestic policy space and allow the UK to introduce and maintain measures necessary to govern; for example, in order to protect public morals or protect human, animal or plant life and health. These Exceptions are included in all of the UK’s existing free trade agreements and will continue to be included in all future deals.

P&O Ferries: Redundancy

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress the Insolvency Service has made on its civil investigation of P&O Ferries' dismissal of 786 employees on 17 March 2022.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Insolvency Service’s civil investigation into the circumstances surrounding the redundancies made by P&O Ferries remains ongoing. As such no further comment or information can be provided at this time.

Hospitality Industry and Retail Trade

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the resilience of businesses in (a) the hospitality sector and (b) retail; and whether her Department provides guidance to businesses on best practice.

Kevin Hollinrake: We understand the many challenges businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors are facing, which is why Government is supporting businesses with business rates relief and help with energy costs. We are also working across Government to identify opportunities to ease regulatory burdens.We continue to work with members of the Hospitality Sector Council, to deliver our 2021 Hospitality Strategy, which aims to support the sector’s recovery from COVID-19 and improve its longer-term resilience.The industry led Retail Sector Council is developing a strategic approach for retail and continues to invite views on the opportunities and challenges for business set out in the recently published discussion paper Retail: The Great Enabler.

Hospitality Industry and Retail Trade: Business Rates

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) hospitality and (b) retail stakeholders on business rates.

Kevin Hollinrake: The subject of business rates, along with wider financial challenges, are regularly raised during individual stakeholder and roundtable calls. Industry concerns are shared across Government including Treasury. Both the Hospitality Sector Council and Retail Sector Council have established working groups that are exploring issues to address key concerns, including costs to business. The Retail Sector Council submitted evidence to HM Treasury as part of a call for evidence into Treasury’s previous review of the business rates system. At Autumn Statement 2023, the Chancellor announced a package of business rates support worth £4.3 billion over the next 5 years, for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses.

District Heating: Business Rates

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15770 on District Heating: Business Rates, for what reason the figure of £315,000 was chosen; and whether she has plans to review it.

Kevin Hollinrake: The £315,000 figure only limits subsidy given as ‘minimal financial assistance’. Public authorities are free to give larger subsidies, provided they apply the seven ‘subsidy control principles’ when designing their intervention.The UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement limits the amount of subsidy that can be given outside the normal process to 325,000 Special Drawing Rights. Allowing a small margin for exchange rate fluctuations, this has been converted to £315,000 in the Subsidy Control Act.The Secretary of State will review this figure from time to time and may amend it up or down, within the Trade and Cooperation Agreement limit.

Small Businesses: Digital Technology

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to paragraph 5.148 of the Autumn Statement 2023, what recent progress her Department has made on establishing a taskforce with industry to help support SMEs to adopt digital technology.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department for Business and Trade is currently setting up an industry-led taskforce to rapidly explore how best to support SMEs to adopt digital technology. Progress is being made on the remit, Chair and membership of the taskforce and we will be launching the taskforce shortly

New Businesses: Loans

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Government funded start-up loans have been issued (a) in every year since 2012 and (b) in total.

Kevin Hollinrake: As of January 2024, a total of 110,699 Start Up Loans have been issued since 2012 with an aggregate value of £1,075,873,213. The attached table contains a breakdown of Start Up Loans issued by year, from 2012-13 to Jan 2024.YearLoans MadeAmount Lent2012-131884£ 9,578,6732013-1412647£ 70,146,4402014-1513543£ 66,902,4312015-169191£ 64,961,0142016-179263£ 89,618,9692017-188521£ 104,723,8562018-197896£ 83,258,4402019-208532£ 95,572,6502020-2111318£ 137,286,5542021-2210372£ 130,745,2182022-239536£ 119,952,2922023-247996£ 103,126,676   Totals (2012-2024)110699£ 1,075,873,213

Horizon IT System: Shareholder Executive and UK Government Investments

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will publish (a) reports and (b) briefings provided to (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in her Department and its predecessor Departments by the (A) former UK Shareholder Executive and (B) UK Government Investments on the Horizon IT system.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is looking into the nature of information provided to Ministers and officials on the Horizon system. It would be wrong for the Government to prejudice its work. Government continues to cooperate fully with the Inquiry.

Royal Mail: Essex

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of Royal Mail's compliance with the universal service obligation in each postal code area in Witham constituency in each week of (a) 2023 and (b) 2024; on how many occasions each post code area in (i) Essex and (ii) Witham constituency did not receive (A) letters and (B) parcels in accordance with the universal service obligation since 1 January 2023; and what steps she is taking to ensure that Royal Mail complies with the universal service obligation in (1) Essex and (2) Witham constituency.

Kevin Hollinrake: As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to monitor Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations.Ofcom fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23 and is closely monitoring Royal Mail’s performance to ensure service issues are addressed as a priority. I met Mr Seidenberg, the CEO of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services, to directly raise concerns about performance and will continue to do so if service levels do not improve.

British Business Bank: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many businesses in Northern Ireland have expressed an interest in the British Business Bank's £70m investment fund for Northern Ireland since 16 November 2023.

Kevin Hollinrake: The British Business Bank’s £70m Investment Fund for Northern Ireland received 170 expressions of interest between 16 November and 1 March 2024. 86 enquiries were for equity finance and 84 enquiries were for debt finance.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty: Families

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Government has taken to ensure that families living in poverty in the UK have sufficient (a) food (b) energy and (c) basic household goods.

Jo Churchill: The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children. Working age benefits will increase by 6.7% from April 2024. We are also raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households. With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work, an approach which is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that, in 2021/22, children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. Our core Jobcentre offer provides a range of options to help people into work, including face-to-face time with Work Coaches and targeted employment support. We will also increase the National Living Wage by 9.8% to £11.44 for workers aged 21 years and over from this April - an annual increase in gross earnings of over £1800 for someone working full-time on the National Living Wage. To further help parents on Universal Credit who are moving into work or increasing their hours, the Government is providing additional support with upfront childcare costs. We have also increased the childcare costs that parents on Universal Credit can claim back by nearly 50%, up to £951 a month for one child and £1,630 for two or more children. As announced in Spring Budget, £500m of additional funding also enables the extension of the Household Support Fund, including funding for the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive an additional £421m to support those in need locally through the Household Support Fund.

Companies: Corruption

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the right of companies to investigate allegations of breaches of their corruption policies; and what steps he is taking to help (a) ensure accountability and (b) prevent potential abuse of such investigations.

Paul Maynard: This is not a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions and therefore no assessment has been made by this Department.

Department for Work and Pensions: WhatsApp

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.

Paul Maynard: DWP issues guidance to colleagues on the use of apps on mobile devices such as WhatsApp. WhatsApp is approved for download on DWP mobile devices. However, it should only be used for wellbeing and as a keeping in touch tool. It must not be used for DWP official business.The guidance also refers to the DWP acceptable use policy which covers security of mobile devices and the DWP Social Media Policy.

Department for Work and Pensions: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which unit in his Department is responsible for equalities.

Paul Maynard: Every Department across Government has a responsibility for equalities. Under Public Sector Equality Legislation every person working for the Department has a personal responsibility for implementing and promoting commitment to equality in their day-to-day dealings with everyone – including members of the public, other colleagues, employers and partners. The Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing team are responsible for providing advice on Equality Analysis where activity is colleague facing. For customer focussed work, the responsibility sits across multiple teams in Policy and Service Delivery. DWP has a specialist equalities team who can provide their colleagues with advice on equalities-related issues, including the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). Under the PSED, all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. The Government is auditing the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June, to ensure value for money for taxpayers. The Minister for Cabinet Office will be outlining the final proposals in response to the review in due course.

Department for Work and Pensions: Stonewall

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has paid to Stonewall in each of the last five years; and for what (a) programmes and (b) grants funding has been provided.

Paul Maynard: DWP are no longer Stonewall Diversity Champions. The department withdrew from its membership to the programme from April 2022.a) In the last 5 years DWP has paid a total of £11,440.00 to Stonewall for its membership to their Diversity Champion’s Programme and services provided. 2023/2024 £460.00 leadership course2022/2023 Nil2021/2022 £3,000.00 membership (including VAT) plus £750 for conference2020/2021 £3,000.00 membership (including VAT) plus £750 for conference2019/2020 £3,000.00 membership (including VAT) plus £480 for event b) DWP has not paid any money to Stonewall in the form of grant funding in the last 5 years.

Universal Credit: Disability

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of automating data-sharing between his Department's Disability Service Centre and its Universal Credit section.

Paul Maynard: The Department is always looking to make improvements to the design of the service and continues to review the way in which processes can be further automated.

Attendance Allowance

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of Attendance Allowance claim forms.

Paul Maynard: DWP continuously reviews and improves the service for people who claim or seek to claim Attendance Allowance to ensure forms and services are accessible and responsive to citizen needs. The Attendance Allowance claim form and accompanying notes are accessible and work on PC and MAC operating systems. They comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1AA and are compatible with assistive software.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria the Government uses to assess whether to amend the state pension age.

Paul Maynard: Under Section 27 of the Pensions Act 2014, the Secretary of State has a duty to periodically review whether the existing rules about State Pension age are appropriate. He must consider evidence about life expectancy and appoint an independent reviewer to report to him on other factors that are relevant for the review. The second Government Review of State Pension age was published on 30 March 2023. Government concluded that the planned increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 will take place between 2026-2028. Government also concluded that due to uncertainties in relation to life expectancy data, labour markets and the public finances, there will be a further review within two years of the next Parliament to consider age 68. The further review will be supported by the latest evidence, including life expectancy projections, updated with 2021 Census data, and the economic position.

State Retirement Pensions: National Insurance Contributions

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to (a) collect and (b) publish management information on the number of people who have (i) had changes to their National Insurance record and (ii) are waiting to have their state pension calculation updated.

Paul Maynard: DWP does not publish this information as changes to a citizen’s National Insurance Record forms part of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) function. When DWP receives notification from HMRC of a change in a citizen’s National Insurance record, DWP reviews the State Pension claim accordingly. The vast majority of changes to a citizen’s National Insurance Record are processed by DWP within days. However, more complex cases requiring specialist caseworkers can take longer to resolve.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) physical and (b) mental ability of people to work (i) until and (ii) beyond the state pension age.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) physical and (b) mental feasibility of people being able to continue working (i) until the existing state pension age and (ii) beyond that age.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) physical and (b) mental ability of people to work (i) until and (ii) beyond the state pension age.

Jo Churchill: The Department provides information to support people to make informed decisions such as Midlife MOT sessions in Jobcentres, and the digital Midlife MOT offer available to everyone online which offers financial, health and career guidance. There is no requirement for people to work beyond the State Pension age, however some people may choose to.

Department for Work and Pensions: Food Banks

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information was included in his Department’s foodbank signposting slips in February (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason his Department has changed the information provided on foodbank signposting slips.

Jo Churchill: On 19 February we introduced a new food charity signposting slip to replace the one previously used. This does not change DWP signposting policy but improves the signposting slip to comply with our obligations under GDPR. Our Jobcentres continue to provide customers with guidance to find additional support, including signposting to emergency food support when appropriate. The new slip does not include any personal data. It also now provides claimants with information on where they might access emergency food locally, and wider sources of support.

Department for Education

Overseas Students: Palestinians

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) number of students from (i) the Palestinian territories and (ii) Gaza studying in the UK and (b) the number and proportion of those students that are in the UK on British Council scholarship.

Robert Halfon: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), now part of JISC, is responsible for collecting and publishing data about UK higher education (HE). The latest statistics refer to the 2021/22 academic year.Table 28 of HESA’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2021/22’ reports the number of non-UK domiciled HE students by country of domicile. This data is accessible at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-28.In the 2021/22 academic year, there were 245 (1) student enrolments (2) at UK HE providers who were domiciled in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (formerly the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip) prior to their studies. The major source of tuition fees of five (3%) of them were recorded as 'Overseas student award from HM government/British Council’.1: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in line with HESA rounding conventions. More information on rounding and suppression strategy can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/students#rounding-and-suppression-strategy.2. Enrolments refers to students in all years of study.

Free School Meals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to support local authorities piloting an opt-out model for free school meal registration.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assess the suitability of (a) opt-out and (b) opt-in models for free school meals eligibility where they are being provided as a universal benefit to all children.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing automatic enrolment for free school meals.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide data sets to (a) City of York Council and (b) each other local authority showing levels of under-registration for free school meals.

Damian Hinds: Maximising the take-up of free school meals (FSM) is important in ensuring that as many eligible children as possible benefit from a healthy and nutritious meal. The department aims to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.To support this, an ‘Eligibility Checking System’ has been provided to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities.The department does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM but do not make a claim, and so is not currently in a position to provide data-sets on levels of under-registration for FSM.The department has looked at the issue of under-registration and considers there to be merit in local authorities exploring initiatives to maximise take up and to better understand the barriers that prevent such take up, whilst ensuring adherence to legal and data protection constraints.The department is currently aware of a number of different approaches being trialled by local authorities to maximise take up of FSM. The department has not provided formal guidance to support these activities, nor has the department endorsed any particular approach to increasing FSM take-up for benefits-related FSM and universal approaches, but the department continues to engage with key stakeholders on this issue.

Further Education: Special Educational Needs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to provide free access to further education for people with SEND.

Robert Halfon: Most young people legally residing in England will be eligible for 16 to 19 study programme funding. Additionally, students aged 19 to 24 who have an Education, Health and Care plan are also eligible for young people’s funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Full details are set out in the ‘funding guidance for young people 2023 to 2024’, which is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1178949/16_to_19_funding_guidance_Regulations_2023_to_2024-Version_1.01.pdf.The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), worth £1.34 billion this academic year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above up to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, life or further learning. This supports disadvantaged learners including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.Currently, approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to 9 Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Mayor of London, acting where appropriate through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of AEB funded adult education for their residents and the allocation of AEB to providers. The ESFA remains responsible for AEB in non-devolved areas.The AEB supports four statutory entitlements to full funding for adult learners, which apply in devolved and non-devolved areas:English and maths, up to and including level 2, for individuals aged 19 and over, who have not previously attained a GCSE grade A* to C or grade 4, or higher, and/or:First full qualification at level 2 for individuals aged 19 to 23, and/or:First full qualification at level 3 for individuals aged 19 to 23.Essential digital skills qualifications, up to and including level 1, for individuals aged 19 and over, who have digital skills assessed at below level 1.The ESFA funded AEB for learners resident in non-devolved areas also supports colleges and providers to help adult learners to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning. This includes learner support and learning support. Learning support funding helps providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to meet the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010. Support can cover a range of needs, including an assessment for dyslexia, funding to pay for specialist equipment or helpers, and arranging signers or note takers.

Apprentices: Special Educational Needs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) school leavers and (b) adults with SEND are given prioritised access to apprenticeships.

Robert Halfon: Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for school leavers and adults with special educational needs and disabilities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to progress in their chosen careers. So far, in the 2023/24 academic year, 15.9% of all starts were by learners declaring a learning difficulty and/or disability (LDD), an increase from 14.7% for the same period last year. The department is also increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, supporting more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices.The department is investing £3.2 million annually in the ‘Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge’ programme, which ensures students in schools and colleges are aware of the benefits of apprenticeships. Young people can also now access apprenticeships vacancies on UCAS, and later this year they will also be able to use the service to apply for apprenticeships.The department provides £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19, or 19 to 24 year old apprentices who have an Education, Health and Care plan or have been in care. The department also provides additional funding to support those apprentices who require reasonable adjustments to undertake learning.As part of the work to remove barriers for people starting an apprenticeship, the department has launched a pilot to consider how the department determines apprentice eligibility for flexibilities to English and maths requirements. The department is also currently delivering another pilot to test whether offering expert support, advice and training to the people providing mentoring to apprentices with a LDD results in a positive impact on the cohort, both in terms of satisfaction and achievement for these apprentices.The department will continue to work closely with the Apprenticeship Diversity Network and the Disabled Apprentice Network to better understand and remove barriers so everyone can access the benefits of an apprenticeship.

Palestinians: Refugees

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to help reunite civilians in Gaza with family studying at UK universities.

Robert Halfon: The best way to provide protection for vulnerable people in Gaza is an end to the fighting as soon as possible. That is why the government is calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life. The government is monitoring the situation in Israel and Gaza closely to ensure that we are able to respond appropriately.Universities offer a range of dedicated support to their international students before they arrive in the UK, on arrival and during their studies. This includes both pastoral care and financial support. If a student is experiencing difficulties, they should contact the university to discuss their circumstances.

Skilled Workers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help close skills gaps in the (a) public and (b) private sector.

Robert Halfon: The government is committed to creating a world-leading skills system which is employer-focused, high-quality and fit for the future. The department’s reforms are strengthening higher and further education to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives, as well as to improve national productivity and economic growth. These reforms are backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen higher and further education. The department’s reforms will help equip people with the education, training and skills that employers demand both in the public and private sector.The department has established the Unit for Future Skills (UFS), which provides decision makers in skills system with information they need to invest in the right skills to meet national and local employer needs and support economic growth. The work of the UFS aims to improve data and evidence to support a better understanding of current skill mismatches and future demand throughout the country.Apprenticeships are crucial in driving growth and social mobility as they boost skills across the economy and improve people's earnings and career opportunities nationwide. To support growth, the department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, which will encourage more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices.The department has introduced employer-designed T levels which are equipping thousands of young people with the skills, knowledge, and experience to access employment or further study in some of the most in-demand skills areas. 18 T levels are now available, being delivered through over 250 providers across all regions of the country.The department has invested £300 million to establish 21 Institutes of Technology (IoT) across England to significantly increase the number of learners with higher level technical skills and offering an alternative route to high paid jobs. IoTs bring education and industry together to deliver world class technical education and training in key STEM subjects aligned to the skills needs of the local economy they serve.The department is delivering reforms to increase the profile, prestige, and uptake of higher technical education. Central to these reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), which are Level 4/5 qualifications approved against employer-developed standard and quality marked by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education. This means students and employers can have the confidence that HTQs provide skills employers need. To date, 172 qualifications have been approved as HTQs across seven occupational routes and over 140 providers are approved to deliver HTQs.The department has introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme which enables eligible adults to gain a high value qualification for free. In addition, the department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer.The department has established Local Skills Improvement Plans across the country, which are employer-led, locally owned plans. They have galvanised and brought together businesses, providers, local leaders and stakeholders to help better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs.

Culture: Education

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the cultural education plan.

Damian Hinds: The department is continuing to work with the expert advisory panel to develop the cultural education plan and intends to publish the plan in the coming months.

Overseas Students

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made with Cabinet colleagues on implementing the International Education Strategy, published on 16 March 2019.

Robert Halfon: The department has been implementing a whole of government approach and working closely with Cabinet departments including the Department for Business and Trade, Home Office, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and other government departments to implement the International Education Strategy published on 16 March 2019. This includes ministerial and official attendance from across government at the Education Sector Advisory Group meetings, a valued forum that convenes three times per year and enables sector representatives to engage with the government to implement the strategy.The department remains committed to the International Education Strategy and has published regular updates, most recently in May 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-2023-update. This sets out progress to date, including total UK revenue from education related exports and transnational education activity estimated to be £25.6 billion in 2021 and meeting the international student ambition for both 2020/21 and 2021/22.

History: Curriculum

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the model history curriculum.

Damian Hinds: The department is continuing to work with the lead drafter, as well as the history curriculum experts, historians and school leaders on the ‘Expert Panel’ to develop the model history curriculum.

Ministry of Justice

Wandsworth Prison: Prison Governors

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings he has had with the Governor of HMP Wandsworth since September 2021.

Edward Argar: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice, has met with the Governor of HMP Wandsworth on two occasions since September 2021. Separately, the Minister of State for Justice also met with the Governor of HMP Wandsworth on two occasions since September 2021.Ministers and senior officials continue to engage closely with leaders responsible for HMP Wandsworth in a variety of ways beyond in-person meetings and site visits.The Prison Group Director for London frequently visits HMP Wandsworth. He reports back to the Area Executive Director, who is in close contact with the Director General of Operations and the Chief Executive of HMPPS, and with Ministers via the Ministerial performance meeting.

Wandsworth Prison: Prison Officers

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were on active duty at HMP Wandsworth, on the first Monday of each month for the last 12 months.

Edward Argar: The table below shows the number of staff on active duty at HMP Wandsworth in the morning (AM), the afternoon (PM) and on evening duty (ED) of the first Monday of each month, from March 2023 until February 2024. An individual member of staff may have completed more than one period of duty during the day.The data include all Band 3 staff attending who were scheduled to attend, including those undertaking external escort duty. They do not include any staff on training, restricted duties or undertaking bed watch duties. In addition to those for scheduled staff, separate details are provided of Band 3 officers who attended under Payment Plus arrangements. 6 March4 April1 May5 June3 JulyOn active dutyAMPMEDAMPMEDAMPMEDAMPMEDAMPMEDScheduled1026413877521837721837425998529Payment Plus51315131513171413115109  7 Aug4 Sept2 Oct6 Nov4 DecOn active dutyAMPMEDAMPMEDAMPMEDAMPMEDAMPMEDScheduled757324818630918731888331939229Payment Plus411151312959119794139  1 Jan5 FebOn active dutyAMPMEDAMPMEDScheduled737022908122Payment Plus047698 Active recruitment has been in progress at HMP Wandsworth, in recognition of the Band 3 prison officer staffing position. A steady increase of new starters has enabled the prison to achieve its target staffing figure of 315 Band 3 prison officers. Some of these new staff are still at training college but will be able to commence full duties within the next six weeks.

Ministry of Justice: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 15471 on Ministry of Justice: Equality, how many staff in his Department, excluding its public bodies, have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirms that seven job titles including the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race exist in the department (excluding public bodies). As of end of September 2023, the published headcount number for MoJ HQ is 7,263, though these staff provide strategic advice to the nearly 100,000 people employed by the MoJ and its public bodies.

Members: Correspondence

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of August 2023 from the hon. Member for Cynon Valley relating to a constituent, Michael O’Brien.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of August 2023 from the constituent of the hon. Member for Cynon Valley, Michael O’Brien, sent via his solicitor.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice takes the handling of correspondence seriously and apologises for the delay in replying to the hon. Member for Cynon Valley, Beth Winter, and their constituent Michael O’Brien. We can confirm that the Secretary of State for Justice is still considering the position on retrospective saved living expenses, and a response will be sent out as soon as possible.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Complaints

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) average and (b) target response time is from submitting an online complaint to HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

Mike Freer: In the period July 2023 – December 2023 the average response time for complaints submitted online was 20.3 working days.HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) acknowledges the complaint on receipt and our aim is to respond within 10 working days.All parts of the organisation have processes in place to flag and monitor the progress of complaint responses, but timeliness can sometimes be impacted by the level of enquiry or investigation required to enable substantive response, or by the need for administrative teams to focus temporarily on higher service delivery priorities e.g. order production.Where staff capacity or capability is identified as a primary cause of delay, steps will always be taken to address, whether targeted training or recruitment to bring staffing up to funded headcount.HMCTS has established a dedicated project to focus on the causes of dissatisfaction/complaints, to identify root cause and improve user experience and therefore reduce the number of, and time taken to respond to complaints.

Probate

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken is from submission of application to granting of probate in the last 12 months.

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for the granting of probate.

Mike Freer: HMCTS is focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications, and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, from submission, is 12.6 weeks in the last 12 months (October 2022 to September 2023) and following receipt of the documents required, is 10.8 weeks. The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow, with higher levels of receipts during January to September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. HMCTS has increased staffing levels, streamlined internal processes and continued to invest in further improving the digital service. As a result, the number of grants issued for recent months has been at record levels, with around 16,000 more grants issued than applications received during the last four months (September to December 2023), using more recent management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly).Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on GOV.UK via Family Court Statistics Quarterly, and currently cover the period up to September 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly.

Criminal Proceedings: Victims

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve communication with victims on (a) individual court cases, (b) sentencing and (c) custodial circumstances of offenders who perpetrated crime against them.

Laura Farris: The Victims’ Code sets out the services victims are entitled to receive in England and Wales from criminal justice agencies, including the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, Courts, and Probation Services. This includes being provided with information by the police’s Witness Care Unit about the progress of their case, including the date and time of any hearings and the outcomes. If there is a conviction, the Witness Care Unit will tell victims about the sentence. Any questions a victim has about the sentence will be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. Bereaved families of victims of homicide can also meet with the crown prosecutor. Victims who are eligible to join the Victim Contact Scheme, which are victims in cases where the offender receives a sentence of 12 months or more for a for a specified violent or sexual offence, will be given information about the prisoner by His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service’s Victim Liaison Officers, such as whether they are eligible to move to open conditions and when they are going to be released. More widely, the Victims and Prisoners Bill has measures to improve how the services under the Victims’ Code are delivered, by improving data collection and sharing, strengthening local and national oversight of performance, and increasing the transparency of how the criminal justice system delivers for victims. We will publicly consult on the draft for the new Victims' Code after the Bill has completed its passage through Parliament. As part of that consultation, we are open to whether further updates may be useful, including to how communication with victims might be improved.

Offences against Children: Civil Proceedings

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) removing the limitation period for civil claims relating to childhood sexual abuse and (b) bringing forward legislative proposals to align the law in England and Wales with that in Scotland following the introduction of the Limitation (Child Abuse)(Scotland) Act 2017.

Laura Farris: The government recognises that it might take years, and in many cases decades, for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward and feel ready to disclose their trauma. We will shortly consult on strengthening existing judicial guidance, and set out options to reform limitation law in child sexual abuse cases in England and Wales.

Ministry of Justice: Publishing

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.

Mike Freer: The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Reports and guidance that the Department has published can be found on GOV.UK.

Administration of Justice

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of the introduction of unique identifiers for people in the justice system.

Mike Freer: We have not made a recent assessment of the impact of introducing unique identifiers for people in the justice system.  However, we have started work to create a single 'Core Person record’ for use across HMPPS. This will begin to remove the multiple records we hold for those in our care, and reduce the amount of manual data matching required. Additionally, our award-winning probabilistic matching tool ‘splink’, has underpinned the linking of data across the justice system, including assessing the substance misuse pathways between justice and health, electronic monitoring curfew and probation case management, which has allowed us to identify individuals as they interact with our interventions and services. This has significantly overcome challenges of not having a unique identifier and has supported policy makers and operational staff in their work to reduce offending and strengthen public protection.

Immigration: Appeals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has been made of the average waiting time for a First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum); and whether he plans to take steps to reduce this wait.

Mike Freer: Information about waiting times for appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (IAC) is routinely published at: Tribunals statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and HMCTS management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest period for which data is available is July to September 2023 (Tribunal Statistics) and December 2023 (HMCTS Management Information). Data for the period October to December 2023 (Tribunal Statistics) will be published on 14 March 2024. HMCTS continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems and the use of remote hearing technology. We continue to monitor and review the demand on the First-tier Tribunal (IAC) and will work with the judiciary and HMCTS on any further actions that may be needed.

Television Licences: Non-payment

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were sentenced to prison for non-payment of a TV licence in the last five years.

Gareth Bacon: A person cannot receive a custodial sentence for TV licence evasion, but may be committed to prison for wilfully refusing to pay the fine or culpably neglecting to pay. Imprisonment is only pursued as a matter of last resort.The number of people admitted to prison for failing to pay fines in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales in 2019 and 2022 was two or fewer (the actual number has not been released in order to protect against personal identification). In 2020 and 2021, there were no admissions into prison associated with failing to pay a fine in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales. The data for 2023 is not yet available.

Prison Officers: Training

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison officers are up-to-date on Control and Restraint training, as of 1 March 2024.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Wandsworth Prison: Risk Assessment

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of risk assessments at HMP Wandsworth.

Edward Argar: A review of security risk assessment processes commenced following the alleged escape from HMP Wandsworth on 06 September 2023. This work continues to be led by the Governor, supported by colleagues from the Directorate of Security. This will include a longer-term review of the Local Security Strategy to ensure that guidance is up to date and fit for purpose. The Prison Group Director has increased the frequency of his visits to HMP Wandsworth to maintain senior manager oversight, and to review progress against current security action plans that have been produced following investigations into the escape. Immediate action was taken after the alleged escape from HMP Wandsworth to review the processes for workplace risk assessments for prisoners at HMP Wandsworth. A workplace allocation action plan was produced and remains in place, to ensure senior manager oversight and monitoring of processes to allocate prisoners to work activities at Wandsworth.

POA: Industrial Disputes

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the provisions of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 on the ability of the Prison Officers Association to represent their members in workplace disputes.

Edward Argar: The provisions of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (the 2023 Act) do not extend to prison officers, who are not included in the categories listed in section 234B(4) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by the Schedule to the 2023 Act. Under section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, however, it would be unlawful for a trade union representing prison officers to induce its members to strike. As prison officers do not have a right to strike, the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) is an independent body which acts as a compensatory mechanism. The PSPRB conducts its own research and considers evidence submitted by the Prison Officers Association before making recommendations to the Government. The Government would only depart from those recommendations in exceptional circumstances.

Domestic Abuse: Prisoners' Release

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there is a requirement for the victims of domestic abuse to be informed when the perpetrator of their abuse is released early under the home detention curfew scheme.

Laura Farris: Offenders currently serving a sentence for a domestic abuse offence are extremely unlikely to be released on home detention curfew (HDC). Since June 2023, offenders serving current sentences for specified domestic abuse offences are presumed unsuitable for HDC. This means they will only be considered for release under the scheme where there are highly specific and exceptional circumstances.More broadly, victims of specified sexual and violent offences, where the prison sentence is 12 months or more, have a statutory entitlement to the Probation Victim Contact Scheme (VCS). Victims will be updated with key stages in the sentence, including when an offender due to be released on HDC, and have the statutory right to request licence conditions on release, such as a no contact condition and an exclusion zone.Also, we have recently introduced a victim notification scheme (VNS) for victims of stalking and harassment where the offences are non-qualifying for the VCS. Victims will be informed of the offender’s release which is more likely to be at their normal automatic release date given the presumption against release on HDC, and will be offered the chance to request licence conditions. The VNS was piloted in a few probation regions but is now being rolled out nationally with the expectation that it will be live in all areas in England and Wales by the spring.

Northern Ireland Office

Casement Park: Finance

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for Casement Park.

Chris Heaton-Harris: My Department is engaging with the Department for Communities, which is responsible for the procurement process for the redevelopment of Casement Park, including direct engagement with local partners on their funding contribution. I wrote to the Northern Ireland Minister for Communities on 27 February to say that it is vital to understand what the most recent costs associated with the redevelopment of Casement Park are.

Casement Park: Finance

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Irish Government on the funding of Casement Park.

Chris Heaton-Harris: My Department has engaged with a number of stakeholders in relation to funding for Casement Park, including with the Irish Government. I welcome the announcement by the Irish Government that it is willing to contribute €50m to the redevelopment of the stadium. The Department for Communities is responsible for the procurement process for the redevelopment of Casement Park, including direct engagement with local partners on their funding contribution. I wrote to the Northern Ireland Minister for Communities on 27 February to say that it is vital to understand what the most recent costs associated with the redevelopment of Casement Park are.

Euro 2028: Northern Ireland

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure Northern Ireland can host Euro 2028 games alongside the rest of the UK and Ireland.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Northern Ireland Department for Communities is responsible for the redevelopment of Casement Park, including direct engagement with local partners on their funding contribution. The UK Government will need to receive confirmation of the updated cost of the Casement Park project from the Department for Communities before detailed consideration can be given to allocating taxpayers' money, particularly given wider public sector funding challenges. This has yet to be received. The Northern Ireland Minister for Communities has written to me on this matter and I replied on 27 February 2024 to say that it is vital to understand what the most recent costs associated with the redevelopment of Casement Park are.

Home Office

Home Office: Advertising

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.

Chris Philp: Determining the amount allocated for and spent by the Home Office on advertising specifically is not readily available from our finance system.To try to identify the information under scope would require a manual review of multiple expenditure categories and transactions, over three financial years.This could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Rape: Databases

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the cross-criminal justice system rape data tool established by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Avon and Somerset Police to collect, share and analyse end-to-end rape data as part of the Police-CPS Joint National Rape Action Plan.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of the cross-criminal justice system rape data tool set up by the Crown Prosecution Service and Avon and Somerset Police was in the financial year 2022-23.

Chris Philp: We recognise the importance of linking end-to-end data across criminal justice agencies and are committed to continuing to improve the quality of and access to data to enable us to develop deeper insights and improve the response to crimes such as rape.We publish regular statistics on adult rape through the CJS Delivery Data Dashboard. These statistics demonstrate progress on our ambition to more than double the number of adult rape cases reaching court by the end of this Parliament, and to return volumes of cases being referred to the police, charged by the CPS and going to court, to at least 2016 levels. In the year to June 2023 adult rape prosecutions were up 54% on the year to June 2022, this is the fifth consecutive year we’ve seen an increase in suspects being brought to trial.In October 2023, the Home Office and Ministry of Justice published guidance and a template Memorandum of Understanding to support local criminal justice partners to share data for the purposes of monitoring and improving performance. The Home Office do not hold data on the cost of the development of this tool but through the Rape Review, the government provided £300,000 to the Police Digital Service to evaluate and develop guidance on a range of technical solutions which could be utilised by local agencies to link their data on rape, including the tool developed by Avon and Somerset Police.Avon and Somerset were also the pioneering police force for Operation Soteria, which has developed new national operating models for the investigation and prosecution of rape to support police and prosecutors to ensuring cases are investigated fully and pursued rigorously through the courts.

Visas: Palestinians

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas for Palestinian nationals (a) are being processed, (b) have been approved and (c) have been rejected since 1 October 2023.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in Gaza are awaiting the results of their applications for a visa as a dependant of someone in the UK on a (a) work and (b) student visa, who applied (i) on and (ii) before 7 October 2023.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for visas for Palestinian nationals were (a) rejected and (b) approved in (i) October 2023, (ii) November 2023, (iii) December 2023, (iv) January 2024 and (v) February 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office does not publish data at the level of detail requested, however, we do publish data on entry clearance visas, by nationality, in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on work and sponsored study visas granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to 2023 Q4.Every attempt is made to meet the service level agreement standard, but in certain cases additional checks are required which can mean visa requests take longer to process.The latest data on performance against service standards is published through migration transparency data and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration(opens in a new tab).The Home Office also publishes information on visa processing times for applications inside and outside the UK at: Visa processing times - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Home Office: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which unit in his Department is responsible for equalities.

Chris Philp: Within the Home Office, internal people-related Equality, Diversity and Inclusion activity sits within the responsibilities of the Home Office Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Team.A separate team within our Home Office Analysis and Insight Unit provides expert input to the department on our responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requirements, under the Equality Act.

Palestinians: Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing injured Palestinians to be treated at UK hospitals until their health is stabilised.

Tom Pursglove: The UK Government is monitoring the situation in Gaza carefully and keeping this situation under review, recognising that there will be many people facing very challenging circumstances and decisions. The UK Government is also calling for unimpeded humanitarian access in Gaza, so that essential aid can reach civilian populations, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies. It is important that all possible measures are taken to protect civilians and ensure safe humanitarian access. Alongside this, the UK is exploring how best to support the medical needs of those in Gaza, including what options can be provided in the region.The early work we have done shows that there is much we can do in the region, and we are focussed on supporting medical assistance in the region, including through the field hospitals that have been established, helping to send medical teams to referral hospitals in the region. Should specific cases be identified where individuals would be better off taking the long journey to Britain, we do not rule that out and we will continue to look at this.

Refugees: Gaza

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to enable children in Gaza with parents living in the UK to come to the UK.

Tom Pursglove: The UK Government is monitoring the situation in Israel and Gaza closely to ensure that it is able to respond appropriately. UKVI is working closely with the FCDO in supporting family members of British nationals evacuated from Gaza who require a visa, signposting the necessary steps and expediting appointments at the Visa Application Centre. British citizens and those with settled status in the UK, together with their foreign national dependants, (spouse, unmarried/civil partner, child under 18), may come to the UK, provided that they have valid travel documents and existing permission to enter or remain in the UK; or are non-visa nationals. They must also pass appropriate security checks. The Government allows individuals with protection status in the UK to sponsor their partner or children to stay with, or join, them here through our refugee family reunion policy, provided they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin to seek protection. There are additional safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work, or study. They would need to meet the requirements of the relevant Immigration Rule under which they were applying to qualify for a visa.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of international undergraduate students at universities in England applied for indefinite leave to remain after their studies in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Tom Pursglove: The Student route is a temporary immigration route and does not lead to settlement in the UK. However, students may apply to extend their leave on other routes to remain in the UK, provided they meet the requirements. The Home Office publishes data on how people move through the immigration system in the Migrant Journey report. The report contains information on the number of people granted settlement each year by initial immigration route in dataset MJ_D02. The latest report covers up to the end of 2022.

Immigration Controls: EU Countries

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has plans to establish a fund to facilitate the (a) purchase and (b) installation of infrastructure required to commence checks as part of the EU’s Entry Exit System at juxtaposed borders; and whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the Spring Budget on the potential merits of such a fund being established.

Tom Pursglove: The Government continues to work with port owners and operators including the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar / HighSpeed1 (St Pancras) to understand the impacts of EES and support their plans to mitigate these; however, it is ultimately for EU Member States and operators to implement and fund requirements associated with EES.

Immigration Controls: EU Countries

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) French Government and (b) European Commission on the potential merits of developing an app to streamline checks required as part of the EU Entry/Exit System at juxtaposed borders.

Tom Pursglove: The Government engages regularly with both the European Commission and the French Government on EES implementation through both officials and ministers. We understand that the Commission are developing an EES app but it will be for individual Member States to decide when this becomes available for use.

Educational Visits: EU Countries

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to take steps to ensure parity in travel requirements for school groups travelling to the UK from (a) Germany and (b) other EU member states with those from France.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with his European counterparts on extending the rules for school groups travelling to the UK from France, to other EU member states.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with his European counterparts on easing travel restrictions for UK school groups travelling to EU member states.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps the Government has taken to facilitate travel of school groups from (a) Germany and (b) other EU member states to the UK.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the impact of the withdrawal of the list of travellers scheme for school trips from EU countries in October 2021 on the (a) tourism and education sectors and (b) economy.

Tom Pursglove: Visitors from outside the EU are expected to hold a passport (and visa where necessary) and those visiting from EU countries are now expected to do the same.In implementing changes to document acceptability policy following the UK’s exit from the EU, a full impact assessment was carried out which can be found at the following link: Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk). This assessment also acknowledged the end of the List of Travellers arrangements.At the Leaders’ Summit in Paris on 10 March 2023, as part of an overall agreement on migration reached with France, the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. This agreement is specific to France.As a result of changes to the Immigration Rules that came into effect on 28 December 2023, we now permit the use of national identity cards for French schoolchildren (aged 18 and under) travelling on organised trips and waive UK visa requirements for their visa national classmates. When travelling, their responsible adults must be in possession of a fully completed and authenticated form listing the participants on the trip. French schools are able to access the form online from gov.uk.A number of countries in the EU already offer an exemption to visa requirements for children travelling as part of a school trip from the UK, and the details of those countries is published by the EU Commission.There are no current plans, or ongoing negotiations, to extend the arrangement with France to other countries but, in the context of wider agreements on migration related issues, we would consider negotiating with other countries should they approach us with an interest in making similar arrangements.

Asylum

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims are subject to third country enquiries as of 28 February 2024.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time was for a third country enquiry on an asylum application in each year since 2014.

Tom Pursglove: We do not routinely publish the information you have requested.The Home Office publishes statistics on inadmissibility quarterly under the asylum and resettlement datasets. The latest statistics are available at Immigration system statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Windrush Compensation Scheme

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department are taking to improve the speed of delivery of full compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Tom Pursglove: The Windrush Compensation Scheme is determined to ensure everyone who was affected receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible. The scheme is making significant progress towards achieving this aim. As of the end of January 2024, the scheme had paid over £80 million in compensation and over 82% of claims received had been given a final decision.The time to allocate a claim for a substantive casework consideration has been reduced significantly, from 18 months to under 4 months. The 4-month period includes all essential eligibility checks, together with a Preliminary Assessment to make an initial payment of £10,000 wherever possible.However, each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity so that the maximum payment can be made to them.

Treasury

Landfill Tax

Emma Hardy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the (a) Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) Environment Agency on changes to Landfill Tax (i)rates, (ii) allowances, (iii) liable activities and (iv) exemptions.

Gareth Davies: The government is undertaking a review of landfill tax in England and Northern Ireland with the aim of ensuring the tax continues to support the government’s ambitious environmental objectives, including zero avoidable waste by 2050. Since 2000, the tax has contributed to a 90% reduction in local authority waste sent to landfill in England.The Government keeps all tax policy under review, any potential changes are considered in the round at fiscal events

Wines: Excise Duties

Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for the Small Producer Relief to include English and Welsh wine producers.

Gareth Davies: Small Producer Relief (SPR) was introduced as part of the new alcohol duty system on 1 August 2023. SPR provides a duty discount for all producers who produce less than 4,500 hectolitres of pure alcohol on their products below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV).Retaining a strength limit for SPR is important to ensure the relief is aligned with the new alcohol duty system's public health objectives. Wine producers are able to claim the relief on any goods they make below this level.

Beer and Cider: Taxation

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reduce the tax on draught (a) beer and (b) cider.

Gareth Davies: At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that alcohol duty would be frozen until 1 February 2025 to support alcohol producers, pubs, and consumers with cost of living pressures.This extends the six months freeze the Government announced at Autumn Statement 2023, providing businesses time to adapt to the new duty system introduced on 1 August 2023.

Mortgages

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of 99% mortgages on house prices; and what steps he is taking to help mitigate that impact.

Bim Afolami: The Government regularly assesses data on the UK mortgage and housing market and engages with a range of stakeholders.The Government remains committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life in order to make the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible

Debts: Interest Charges

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's forecast is for the cost of indexation of the index linked debt on the debt interest charge for the 2024-25 financial year.

Bim Afolami: The Office for Budget Responsibility is the UK’s official forecaster, a breakdown of debt interest costs including the interest payable on index-linked gilts is available in the OBR’s detailed aggregates table 6.16 which is published alongside their March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Bank of England: Climate Change and Environment Protection

Olivia Blake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Bank of England’s progress on integrating (a) climate and (b) nature considerations into its operations.

Bim Afolami: The financial regulators’ primary focus must be to ensure the safety, soundness and integrity of the markets they regulate. While the government expects that the Bank will play a crucial role in supporting the achievement of the government’s net zero target, it is not their primary responsibility given many of the levers for change sit outside of financial services regulation. However, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 introduced a new regulatory principle for the Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England and Payment Systems Regulator to consider in their work. To further strengthen the UK’s regulatory regime relating to climate and the environment, the government has embedded the consideration of the UK’s climate and environmental targets across the full breadth of the regulators’ general functions on a statutory basis. This regulatory principle seeks to cement the government’s long-term commitment to transform the economy in line with its target to reach net zero by 2050, and to make progress towards the government’s long-term environmental goals, by ensuring the regulators must have regard to the government’s commitment to achieve these targets when discharging their functions. This principle does not create any specific requirements on firms. Rather, they are expected to inform the future work of the regulators.

Treasury: Advertising

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.

Gareth Davies: HM Treasury publishes data on spend over £25,000 as part of the transparency agenda, which can be found on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend

Philips Trust Corporation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to people who held policies with the Philips Trust Corporation Limited.

Bim Afolami: The Philips Trust Corporation was not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and was not carrying out any regulated activities. As such, any losses are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.Consumers who have concerns about the role played by their bank or building society in relation to Philips Trust Corporation may be eligible to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Whether a particular complaint is eligible or not is a matter for the FOS.

Motor Vehicles: Customs

Greg Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to renegotiate carnet provisions between the UK and EU on the movement of vehicles and parts used in motorsport.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK is committed to maintaining the option of using ATA Carnets for temporary movements of professional equipment to the EU. Carnets can be a simpler and cheaper way to move goods into and out of a customs territory temporarily, compared to submitting full customs import and export declarations and paying duties. The EU’s Temporary Admission procedure in combination with the UK’s Returned Goods Relief offers another alternative to move items temporarily into the EU and back to the UK without paying import duties. Improved guidance on the temporary movement of goods from the UK has recently been published: https://www.gov.uk/taking-goods-out-gb-temporarily. The Government is reviewing how we can improve the UK’s own Temporary Admission procedure and simplify processes for individuals and businesses, and has engaged with the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders which included representatives from Motorsport UK. HMRC and HMT are open to further discussions and any specific concerns the motorsport industry has around the options available for temporarily moving goods. Work to digitalise ATA Carnets and their processes is currently underway as part of a World customs Organisation (WCO) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) initiative. The Digital Pilot was launched in February 2019, initially involving the UK and five other countries. To date the UK has successfully processed a number of e-Carnets from Heathrow and is looking to collaborate with more ports to make digital Carnets more readily available. More information is available at https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/icc-new-ata-carnet-app-makes-digital-declarations-and-transactions-possible/

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Imports: EU Countries

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support small businesses with importation fees on goods from the EU.

Mark Spencer: The Border Target Operating Model aims to provide a more proportionate and streamlined regime to support businesses of all sizes while maintaining high levels of biosecurity and public health protection. The improvements to import processes brought about by simplification, digitisation and more sophisticated use of data will benefit all traders importing SPS good to the UK. Furthermore, Trusted trader schemes will be piloted throughout 2024 and, following successful pilots, trusted trader schemes will be open to businesses that can demonstrate they meet the necessary requirements. These schemes aim to minimise burdens and provide benefits to businesses, consumers and government and reduce costs (including running costs).

Horticulture: Peat

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of alternatives to peat-based soils for the professional horticulture sector.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is supporting the transition to peat-free horticulture, through research & development, and the removal of regulatory barriers. Officials are also exploring how to deliver financial support to the sector to help with the capital costs of new machinery or infrastructure.

Horticulture: Peat

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of the professional horticulture sector on plans to ban the sale of horticultural peat.

Rebecca Pow: Ministers and officials have met with the Horticulture Trades Association (HTA) and Royal Horticultural Society in recent months. Further engagement between officials and a range of stakeholders is planned for this month.

Horticulture: Peat

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what peat-free working exemptions will be in place in the professional horticulture sector from 2026.

Rebecca Pow: Our proposals for time limited technical exemptions were set out in the Defra Media blog on 24 March 2023. We also propose a conservation exemption which will not be time limited. Officials are in ongoing discussions with stakeholders about what other possible technical exemptions may be required. Media reporting on peat-ban for the professional Horticulture sector - Defra in the media (blog.gov.uk).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Tree Planting

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted on behalf of his Department since December 2019.

Rebecca Pow: Below are the annual figures for the number of trees planted:2019-20: 2,110,000 trees2020-21: 4,252,000 trees2021-22: 4,344,000 trees2022-23: 4,399,000 treesUp to 30 September 2023: 2,114,000 trees Total Trees Planted (April 2019 - 30 September 2023): 17,219,000 trees. These figures reflect our continuous commitment to enhancing the UK's green spaces and contribute towards our environmental goals and targets.

Horticulture: Peat

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the potential cost of the proposed ban on the use of peat by 2030 on the professional horticulture sector.

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of (a) water and (b) fertiliser usage for (i) peat and (ii) coir in the growing of plants.

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the average cost to farmers of switching agricultural machinery from using existing plant plugs to non-peat alternatives.

Rebecca Pow: Officials are currently updating our economic Impact Assessment which examines the cost differences in moving away from peat. This includes inputs such as water and fertiliser as well as the capital costs of altering machinery.

Peatlands and Tree Planting

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 73 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, published on 27 October 2021, how much and what proportion of the £0.3 billion allocated to his Department for (a) tree planting and (b) peat restoration for the 2024-25 financial year has been spent; and how much he plans to spend on tree planting in the 2025-26 financial year.

Rebecca Pow: Our financial year runs from April to March, therefore, the 2024-25 financial year has not started, so no money has been spent for this financial year. The current spending review runs up to March 2025, therefore no budgets have been formally agreed past this point.

Question

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU on trends in the cost of exporting food to the EU.

Mark Spencer: The Trade and Continuity Agreement provides businesses tariff and quota free access to the EU market, provided that these goods meet ‘Rules of Origin’ requirements. UK businesses must comply with customs procedures when exporting food. These procedures include Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) border controls as well as technical regulations, standards and conformity assessments. Not enough time has passed to robustly assess the trend in these costs. In 2023, the UK exported £14.0 billion of Food, Feed and Drink to the EU. This represents a nominal increase of 0.3% compared to 2018, but 19% lower than 2018 after adjusting for inflation.

National Food Strategy Review

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish a progress report against the food strategy goals.

Mark Spencer: The Government Food Strategy set out our vision for a prosperous agri-food sector. Last year's Farm to Fork Summit was the next step in growing a thriving British food and drink sector, which will put more British produce on supermarket shelves in the UK and around the world. This will also help us to deliver our clear ambition in the strategy to maintain production at current levels, where we produce domestically 60 per cent by value of all the food we need. At the NFU Conference on 20 February 2024, the Prime Minister announced that we will make the UK Farm to Fork Summit an annual event.

Avian Influenza: British Antarctic Territory

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of risk to bird life in the British Antarctic Territory following the discovery of Avian Influenza on the continent; and whether the Government plans to take steps to mitigate that risk.

Rebecca Pow: We receive regular reports from the British Antarctic Territory on the status of suspected avian influenza cases. We provide support to the region and other British Overseas Territories proactively, to rapidly test for, track and monitor progression of disease spread and impact in Southern Oceans/Antarctica. This includes working with others to define risk. National Antarctic programmes have protocols in place to manage and mitigate the spread of outbreaks and best practice on reporting and biosecurity standards is also shared through International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Commission for the Conservation Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Squirrels: Conservation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet the Species Reintroduction Taskforce to discuss ongoing work to increase the number of red squirrels in the UK.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is committed to working closely with the England Species Reintroductions Taskforce to help it achieve its objective to realise the full benefits of species conservation translocations for nature recovery and society. To do so, Defra attends Taskforce meetings as an observer. The Taskforce is committed to developing and publishing materials to better understand the risks and benefits of species translocations. Defra will engage with the Taskforce on the applicability of these outputs to Defra’s priorities, whether on red squirrels or any other species, once they are produced.

Tree Planting: Expenditure

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the 2019 Conservative manifesto commitment to plant an additional 75,000 acres of trees a year by the end of the next Parliament, how much has been spent on tree planting as of 28 February 2024.

Rebecca Pow: The Nature for Climate Programme has spent £272.4m between April 2020 and February 2024 on tree planting and activities to increase the capacity of the forestry sector. The Programme will continue to fund these activities until the end of 2024/25, supporting the Government’s commitment to treble tree planting rates by the end of this Parliament.

Livestock Worrying

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle livestock worrying.

Mark Spencer: The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause animals and their keepers, as well as the financial implications. The Government is supporting a Private Members’ Bill to amend the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 to tackle the issue of livestock worrying. The Bill contains crucial measures which build on all the work this Government is doing to enhance our existing world-leading animal welfare standards. The Bill will focus on two key areas; extending the locations where an offence may take place and extending the species scope to include camelids; as well as strengthening police powers such as powers of entry, the seizure and detention of dogs, and collection of evidence to support enforcement.

Food: Imports

Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the location of the new border control post in Sevington on biosecurity risk.

Mark Spencer: Until now, goods from the EU enter the UK without certification and checks, apart from those required for the highest-risk live animals and plants. Now that we have moved away from the EU’s rigid biosecurity surveillance and reporting systems, we are responsible for mitigating our own biosecurity risks, which otherwise could devastate UK industries and our ability to export food, as well as posing risks to the environment, public health and the wider economy: by taking a risk-based approach our controls will be focused on consignments proven to cause the most significant biosecurity risk.   Defra has worked closely with the relevant designating authority so we are confident that Sevington will have the necessary measures in place to appropriately mitigate biosecurity risks that relate to this facility being located away from the point of entry. The approach to physical checks at inland Border Control Points has already been successfully adopted for plants. Work is also underway with key stakeholders, including the Food Standards Agency, to ensure robust operational procedures for vehicles travelling from port of entry to Sevington. These measures will ensure that biosecurity and food safety are not compromised.Where a consignment is called to Sevington inland border facility for a physical inspection, those goods will not be legally cleared for sale or use within the UK until they have attended and been cleared at the Border Control Post (BCP). Where the BCP has concerns, either due to non-attendance or evidence of non-compliance, there are existing provisions, including requiring return or destruction of the goods, or for the goods to be referred for inland controls by the local authority. These are part of the established processes for Border Control facilities like Sevington that sit outside the controlled zone of ports, including those at Liverpool Birkenhead, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Tyne. Other EU ports like Dublin also carry out checks at control posts outside of the port itself.   African Swine Fever safeguard checks will be conducted with Border Force at the point of entry. It has never been our intention that these would move to any inland border facility.

Environment Agency and Rural Payments Agency: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in the (a) the Environment Agency and (b) Rural Payments Agency have job titles which include the words (i) equality, (ii) diversity, (iii) inclusion, (iv) gender, (v) LGBT and (vi) race.

Mark Spencer: There are 8.8 full-time equivalent staff in the Environment Agency who work for a team with the title EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion). None of their job titles individually refer to equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT or race. As of 27 February, the Rural Payments Agency has no staff with job titles which include the words equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT or race. The Government is auditing the cost-effectiveness of all activities that support the EDI of the workforce, through the review of EDI spending announced last June. As stated in the Autumn Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister for the Cabinet Office will be outlining the final proposals in response to the review in due course.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of his Department's answers to written parliamentary questions have referred to the information requested not being (a) collected or (b) held centrally in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: While the information has not been recorded separately, answers to written parliamentary questions are published by Parliament on their website which has a search facility:https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/

Ministry of Defence: Christmas

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department held Christmas events in 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Department can confirm that one Christmas event took place in 2023.

Ministry of Defence: Data Protection

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many data incidents his Department has recorded in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence recorded the following number of personal data incidents: YearTotal 20195592020529202158120225462023478 The Ministry of Defence’s notified personal data breeches to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) since 2019 are as below: YearTotal submitted to ICO20195202082021102022520232Grand Total30 The Ministry of Defence (MOD) treats all breaches of security very seriously and requires all suspected breaches to be reported regardless of severity. All incidents are subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis. Training and awareness activities are regularly undertaken to continuously improve staff knowledge and understanding of the data protection principles and the processes and procedures that must be followed to secure data.

Ministry of Defence: Advertising

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: A full departmental response could only be provided at disproportionate cost, however the majority of expenditure is accounted for by advertising by the three branches of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) to aid recruitment. Therefore, figures have been provided by the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, and the MDP. Marketing and additional advertising expenditure outside of this remit is not held centrally. Budget figures were 2021-22 £37,903,062; 2022-23 £42,800,318; 2023-24 (to date) £48,177,395.   Spend in 2020-21 was £34,178,742; 2021-22 £30,876,441; 2022-23 £40,562,477; and 2023-24 to date is £19,462,174.  Spending is reviewed regularly to ensure value for money.

Armed Forces: Personal Records

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timescale is for the completion of the transfer of service records from 1 January 1963 from his Department's contracted storage site to the National Archives.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The current Service Records transfer project from the Ministry of Defence Main archive in Swadlincote, Derbyshire to The National Archives is due to be completed by the end of the 2026-27 financial year.

Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 5212 on Armed Forces: Health tabled by the hon. Member for East Londonderry on 5 December 2023; and if he will place a copy of his Answer in the library of the House.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I responded on 11 December 2023 to advise that it would take time to collate the requested information. I have now received advice from my officials that the information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in this response.

Israel: Air Force

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department (a) has and (b) has had an agreement with the Israeli Air Force to provide technical support for its fleet of F-35s.

James Heappey: There are no technical support agreements between the UK and Israel for F-35.

Israel: RAF Akrotiri

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any Israeli Air Force F-35s have landed at RAF Akrotiri since 7 October 2023.

James Heappey: For operational security reasons and as a matter of policy, the Ministry of Defence does not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations' military aircraft movements or operations.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Fuel Poverty: South Holland and the Deepings

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate she has made of the number and proportion of households that are in fuel poverty in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Amanda Solloway: The latest statistics for the number of households in fuel poverty in parliamentary constituencies in England, can be found in the published sub-regional fuel poverty Official Statistics, in Table 4: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics. Sub-regional estimates for 2022 will be published on 25th April.

Fuel Poverty

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of fuel poverty since 2018.

Amanda Solloway: Fuel Poverty is a devolved matter and the Department has responsibility for England. The share of households in fuel poverty in England has reduced from 22% in 2010 to 13% in 2023, with energy efficiency being the key driver. Other support includes the Warm Home Discount scheme which provides low-income and vulnerable households with a £150 rebate off their winter energy bill, which it is estimated took 248,000 English households out of fuel poverty in 2023. The department is currently reviewing the 2021 fuel poverty strategy and is engaging with key stakeholders as part of this process.

Wind Power: North Sea

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to approve future sites for offshore wind farms in the North Sea.

Andrew Bowie: Applications for development consent for offshore wind projects under the Planning Act 2008 progress through an Examination process by the Planning Inspectorate and will result in the final decision taken by my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. Due to the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in taking such decisions it would not be appropriate to comment further. The Scottish Ministers also have executively devolved powers in relation to applications for consent under s.36 of the Electricity Act 1989 throughout Scotland’s entire marine region (inshore and offshore).

Biofuels: Subsidies

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's consultation on a transitional support mechanism for large-scale biomass generators, published on 18 January 2024, what steps she has taken to (a) cost and (b) carry out a cost/benefit analysis of the options for new subsidies in that consultation.

Andrew Bowie: Any potential transitional support mechanism must be affordable and will be subject to rigorous value for money assessments to ensure tax and bill payer money is spent wisely. Further details of the cost-benefit analysis can be found in the Impact Assessment which accompanies the consultation publication.

Biofuels: Subsidies

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's consultation on a transitional support mechanism for large-scale biomass generators, published on 18 January 2024, what steps she has taken to ensure that the subsidies proposed in that consultation would not allow biomass companies to receive subsidies without capturing any carbon.

Andrew Bowie: The consultation on potential transitional support arrangements for large scale biomass generators is with the express intention of facilitating their transition to power BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) in future, which will deliver valuable negative carbon emissions. Subsidies under the future power BECCS business model are not considered within the scope of this consultation on potential transitional support.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what units in her Department have responsibility for equalities.

Graham Stuart: All teams have a duty to consider equality in their own policy areas. The Human Resources directorate is responsible for departmental equality considerations and for providing advice and guidance to the Department on equalities-related issues, including the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

Offshore Industry: Helicopters

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with the Department for Transport on the regulation of helicopter transport services for offshore oil and gas workers.

Graham Stuart: The regulation of helicopter transport services for offshore oil and gas workers is a matter for other bodies, such as the Civil Aviation Authority. Officials are in regular contact with Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), which engages directly on this issue on behalf of the offshore oil and gas sector with relevant bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive, the Civil Aviation Authority, helicopter operators, oil and gas operators and contractors, offshore trade unions, and the pilots’ union BALPA

Offshore Industry: Helicopters

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will have discussions with (a) ministerial colleagues in the Department for Transport, (b) operators, (c) the offshore oil and gas industry and (d) trade unions on the safety of offshore helicopter transport operations.

Graham Stuart: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State meets regularly with her ministerial colleagues and other stakeholders, including the offshore oil and gas trade association, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), to discuss a wide range of subjects. Officials also meet regularly with OEUK, who are working closely on offshore safety issues with helicopter operators, oil and gas operators and contractors, offshore trade unions, the pilots’ union BALPA, the relevant regulators (Health and Safety Executive and the Civil Aviation Authority) and trade associations.

Electricity Generation: Fees and Charges

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of the additional costs to consumers associated with uneven Transmission Network Use of System charges increasing the administrative strike price for renewables contracts.

Graham Stuart: The Government acknowledges the uncertainty that renewable developers face in pricing in the cost of future transmission charges (TNUoS), and that this presents particular challenges for transmission-connected projects in more expensive TNUoS zones which primarily impact wind technologies. Whilst network charges are a matter for Ofgem, the Department has considered implications for the upcoming sixth Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round and has taken into account the risk of higher TNUoS charges for certain wind technologies. The Department continually assesses implications of charging arrangements on future CfD rounds beyond Allocation Round 6.

Wind Power: National Grid

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to households of curtailing wind generation due to a lack of grid capacity.

Graham Stuart: The National Grid Electricity System Operator is responsible for managing constraints and annual network constraint costs for 2022 were £2.0bn (2023 prices). Constraints are a natural part of operating an efficient electricity system, and balancing the network by curtailing wind and turning up alternative generation can be an efficient way to manage these. Necessary grid infrastructure improvements are being made to manage the level of constraints on the system and ensure the UK's homes can be powered by clean, green energy in future.

Heat Pumps

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce the Clean Heat Market Mechanism.

Amanda Solloway: The Government will confirm plans with respect to the Clean Heat Market Mechanism in due course and will bring forward legislation as appropriate and when Parliamentary time allows.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Staff

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will publish an organogram of her Department and the directorates within it.

Graham Stuart: Organogram data is released by all central government departments and their agencies. Snapshots are published on 31st January, 30th April, 31st July and 31st October. The published data is validated and released in CSV format and OGL-licensed for reuse. Please refer to the link below:https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/55efc916-edbb-4468-8c71-0786cb9463c1/desnz-organogram-of-staff-roles-salaries

Offshore Industry: Profits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of profits made by oil and gas companies in the last 12 months.

Graham Stuart: No such assessment has been made.

Offshore Industry: Profits

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of profits made by oil and gas companies in the last 12 months.

Graham Stuart: No such assessment has been made.

Energy Supply: Radio Frequencies

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to improve energy network resilience by investigating the potential of radio spectrum access for energy networks.

Andrew Bowie: Ofcom published a consultation on possible spectrum for the energy and water utilities in June, identifying 5 bands for the potential use by the energy sector (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/potential-spectrum-bands-to-support-utilities). We will be working with Ofcom to take forward the outcomes from this consultation.

Energy Supply: Radio Frequencies

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with refence to the Second National Infrastructure Assessment, published by the National Infrastructure Commission in October 2023, whether her Department is co-ordinating with the Department [WHICH?] on efforts to enable radio spectrum access for energy networks.

Andrew Bowie: Officials at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are currently discussing the recommendations from the NIC report with several Government departments and public bodies while we assess the future need for telecommunications for the energy industry.

Offshore Industry: East of England

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she is taking steps to secure private investment to develop an offshore energy grid in the East of England.

Graham Stuart: Reinforcement of the electricity network is being delivered through a range of approaches, including upgrades to existing infrastructure, building innovative offshore transmission routes, undergrounded new cabling in protected areas and, where necessary building new overhead lines. Ofgem’s regulatory frameworks are designed to encourage anticipatory investment into the grid whether on or offshore and, through the Energy Act 2023, we enabled competitions in electricity networks, opening this market to new parties for the first time.

Offshore Industry: Employment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2024 to Question 13704 on Offshore Industry: Employment, for what reason her Department does not use the verified ONS figures for jobs in the UK oil and gas sector.

Graham Stuart: When assessing the full economic contribution of the offshore oil and gas sector, it is necessary to use a wide range of data sources, given its diverse supply chain and regional significance. The Department uses the Offshore Energies UK’s (OEUK’s) Workforce Insight reports which contain data and insights on direct, indirect and induced jobs supported by the sector. We introduced the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, recognising that the broad skills and capabilities across the workforce will be vital for the transition required for net zero.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Responsible Technology Adoption Unit: Public Appointments

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to appoint an advisory board to the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit.

Julia Lopez: The Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) is a directorate within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. As such, RTA works with experts and stakeholders across the AI and data ecosystem. This ensures that a diverse range of opinion and insight, including from former board members, can continue to inform its work and support the government's AI and innovation priorities. An advisory board will not be appointed for the unit.

Responsible Technology Adoption Unit: Staff

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many staff does the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit have.

Julia Lopez: The Responsible Technology Adoption Unit has 31 staff members currently in post with 8 positions in active recruitment.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: WhatsApp

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what guidance her Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.

Andrew Griffith: All departments in central government, including arms lengths bodies, apply the published guidance: Using non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business published by Cabinet Office in March 2023.It applies to all individuals in central government (ministers, special advisers, officials, contractors, non-executive board members and independent experts advising ministers). Department for Science, Innovation and Technology uses the central guidance and has applied it since March 2023.

Charity Research Support Fund

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much was spent on the Charity Research Support Fund in each of the last five years for which data is available; and if she will make an comparative assessment with the money spent by charities on research in English Universities.

Andrew Griffith: Over the last five years £1.5Bn has been allocated to the Charity Research Support Fund. This comprises £204m allocated in each of 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 as well as £219m allocated in 2022-23 and 2023-24. The last five years for which full data on money spent by charities in English universities is available are 2017-18 to 2021-22. During these years the following amounts were spent: £1,085m in 2017-18£1,098m in 2018-19£1,049m in 2019-20£1,078m in 2020-21£1,146m in 2021-22

Government Office for Technology Transfer: Staff

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many full-time equivalent staff work for the Government Office for Technology Transfer as of 4 March 2024.

Andrew Griffith: The Government Office for Technology Transfer has 27.05 full-time equivalent staff employed as of 4 March 2024.

DNA: Screening

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has had discussions with international partners on DNA synthesis screening.

Andrew Griffith: In September 2023, Government established the UK Biosecurity Leadership Council (BLC), bringing together leading academics and industry figures from across the engineering biology, life science and biotech sectors. The BLC provides Government with impartial and expert advice on emerging biosecurity risks and how to encourage responsible behaviour. As stated in the National Vision for Engineering Biology, Government is prioritising looking at the case for domestic gene synthesis and customer screening, including through discussions in the BLC and with international partners.

Spaceflight

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the commercial viability of space launches from the UK.

Andrew Griffith: Due to the support Government has given to the sector, we are already seeing a commercial market for UK launch start to develop, with commercial launch operators planning multiple launches from Scotland over the coming years. The UK Space Agency is currently developing the next phase of the Spaceflight programme to continue supporting our launch capabilities and ensure the UK has a leading launch industry in Europe.

Internet: Regulation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether officials in her Department have had discussions with Ofcom on the adequacy of Ofcom's plans in respect of regulation of the dark web.

Saqib Bhatti: The Online Safety Act gives online user-to-user and search providers new duties to tackle illegal user content and activity and keep children on their services safe. Ofcom is the regulator for this regime. It will set out the steps providers can take to fulfil these duties in codes of practice, which must be approved by Parliament before they can take effect. Ofcom is clear that services on the ‘dark web’ are in scope of the Act. For example, it set this out in its recent consultation on its proposals for how providers should approach their illegal content duties. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ofcom are working closely together on the implementation of the Online Safety Act.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Publishing

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Attorney General, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.

Robert Courts: The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Reports and guidance that the AGO has published can be found on GOV.UK at Search - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Please note that I am responding on behalf of the AGO only, and not the departments superintended by the Attorney General and I (the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Government Legal Department, and Serious Fraud Office).

Wales Office

Wales Office: Publishing

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.

Fay Jones: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (OSSW) produced the following reports during the last three years.  Financial YearReports ProducedSpend on Printing  and Distribution* (£)2021-22OSSW Annual Report and Accounts 2020-213,420.302021-22The UK Government’s Sixth Annual Report on the Implementation and Operation of Part 2 (Finance) of the Wales Act 20142,593.582022-23 OSSW Annual Report and Accounts 2021-221,245.992023-24 to dateOSSW Annual Report and Accounts 2022-231,200.61 *The Department outsources its printing and the invoices received do not split the costs between printing and distribution.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Publishing

Dame Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.

Mr Alister Jack: The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (OSSS) produced the following reports during the last three years. Financial YearReports ProducedSpend on Printing & Distribution (£)2023-24 to dateOSSS Annual Report and Accounts 2022-238592023-24 to date7th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 20169162022-23OSSS Annual Report and Accounts 2021-229012022-236th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 20161,1402021-22OSSS Annual Report and Accounts 2020-211,1582021-225th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 20161,672Total 6,646  *The Department outsources its printing and the invoices received do not split the costs between printing and distribution.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Holiday Accommodation and Second Homes: Coastal Areas

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proportion of (a) holiday lets and (b) second homes on the availability of affordable housing in coastal areas; and whether she (i) is taking and (ii) plans to take steps to mitigate that impact.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of holiday lets on levels of availability of housing stock; and what steps she (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to help mitigate that impact.

Julia Lopez: Traditional short-term lets have long provided visitor accommodation to rural and coastal locations, supporting jobs and the local economy. However, it has been highlighted that there is no single, definitive source of data on short-term lets in England with which to make a more detailed assessment on local economies and the impact on housing.On February 19, the government announced a mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets. This will help local authorities understand the size of the market and help identify the impact of high numbers of short-term lets. Further details on the scheme will be provided later this year, including our full response to the consultation and an impact assessment.

Sports: Gambling

Sir Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take to help ensure that the sporting industry complies with voluntary or self-regulatory measures to prevent gambling harms.

Stuart Andrew: The gambling White Paper, published in April 2023, set out plans for sports bodies to take a responsible approach to gambling sponsorship through the adoption of a cross-sport Code of Conduct. The Code will guarantee a robust minimum standard on gambling sponsorship across all sports, ensuring that when gambling sponsorship does appear, it is done so in a socially responsible way. Work is underway to develop and implement the Code, ensuring that provisions meet the Government’s objectives while being sufficiently tailored to the material differences between sports. We expect compliance with a Code of Conduct to be guaranteed from within sports themselves through enforcement by governing bodies, and we are working together to identify the most effective way to achieve this.

Internet: Children

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of regulations on online sales of age-restricted products.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her policies to regulate the online order and delivery of age-restricted products or bladed items to self-service lockers.

Julia Lopez: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is not responsible for the general regulation of online sales, or age-restricted products.